A Florida state grand jury has accused the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis of misappropriating $10 million in Medicaid settlement funds and directing the money towards political activities.
The findings were contained in a grand jury report dated January 26, 2026, which was recently obtained by CBS News in Miami after remaining sealed for months.
The grand jury concluded that the transfer of the funds to the Hope Florida Foundation was “part of a political scheme to fund political activities.”
The controversy dates back to a 2023 settlement between the state of Florida and Centene over allegations of Medicaid overbilling. The settlement reportedly resulted in $57 million being paid to the state, with $10 million subsequently directed to Hope Florida.
Hope Florida was previously led by Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife. The initiative was established to connect people receiving government assistance with private organisations and faith-based groups that could provide support.
According to the grand jury report, however, the $10 million was moved from Hope Florida to the Republican Party of Florida and two political action committees shortly after the foundation received it.
The funds were allegedly used to support efforts against a proposed ballot initiative seeking to legalise recreational marijuana in Florida.
The report stated, “Within days, the $10,000,000 was transferred to other organizations for political purposes because money was spent on a political campaign and went to the Republican Party of Florida.”
The grand jury also examined the role of James Uthmeier, who was serving as DeSantis’ general counsel at the time and is now Florida’s attorney general.
It said Uthmeier contacted an organisation known as Save Our Society from Drugs and advised it to seek funding from Hope Florida. The foundation subsequently awarded the group $5 million.
The report said that within a week, Save Our Society from Drugs transferred $4.75 million to Uthmeier’s political action committee, Keep Florida Clean.
Another PAC, Secure Florida’s Future, was also accused of directing money it received towards Uthmeier’s committee.
The grand jury said the transactions appeared to contravene state law, which requires certain funds received through settlements to be deposited into the state’s general revenue fund or an appropriate agency trust fund.
The investigation was initially prompted by concerns raised by state Representative Alex Andrade, who questioned why the Medicaid settlement and the subsequent $10 million payment to Hope Florida had not been publicly disclosed.
The report said, “… The executive branch is supposed to notice the legislative branch when monies are coming in or going out and the purpose of the expenditure,” adding that no such notice appeared to have been given regarding the payment to Hope Florida.
Despite concluding that the money had been misappropriated, the grand jury said there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against anyone involved.
“Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally. Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida,” the report stated.
The grand jury ultimately called for legislative reforms to prevent similar situations, including clearer rules governing the use of taxpayer funds and penalties for organisations that violate those requirements.
It concluded, “we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again.”
