A Florida grand jury has determined that the office of Governor Ron DeSantis “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer funds from a Medicaid settlement, directing them to the Hope Florida Foundation—a charity associated with the governor’s wife—before reportedly channeling the money into two political action committees.
According to the grand jury report—dated January 28, 2026, and obtained by CBS News Miami—the jurors concluded that “these funds were misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities,” though they noted there was “insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally.”
The report details that in 2024, the Hope Florida Foundation received the $10 million from a Medicaid settlement between the state and Centene, a contractor for the government health insurance program serving low-income Americans and children.
The report further states that after the funds reached Hope Florida, they were “quickly funneled” into two political action committees. The money was subsequently used to lobby against a Florida ballot measure to legalize marijuana and was also directed to the Republican Party of Florida.
The jurors noted that “nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida,” adding that “this decision was the original misappropriation, and no witness would take responsibility for making the decision or had any memory of who made it.”
The report concludes: “While we can’t prove who is responsible, 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.”
When asked about the report on Thursday, DeSantis claimed the only crime was “whoever leaked the grand jury report.”
He characterized the settlement as “legally sound” and “appropriate,” asserting that it “advanced the interest of the state.”
He maintained, “There was no diversion of any Medicaid funds,” describing it as “a private settlement where a company made a private contribution with one of the state agencies.”
He argued that critics had attempted to “use it to smear the first lady of Florida, my wife,” stating, “She wasn’t involved in anything… She wasn’t involved in any of this.” (The report mentions Casey DeSantis only once, referring to Hope Florida as an initiative “championed by the First Lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis.”)
The jurors also found that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier—who served as DeSantis’s chief of staff at the time and is currently running for a full four-year term—was in a “position of authority over those involved in settling with Centene,” with testimony identifying him as having “involvement in directing the money after it went to Hope Florida.”
No witness admitted or identified who directed the funds to Hope Florida. Testimony also revealed that Uthmeier’s political action committee, Keep Florida Clean, was the “prime recipient of the majority” of the $10 million.
The jurors noted that the office of Ashley Moody—which was then led by the state attorney general and is now serving its second year in the Senate—was aware of the payment. The office’s chief deputy signed the agreement “without conducting his due diligence to ensure the proper appropriation of taxpayer funds.”
Both Moody and Uthmeier have denied any wrongdoing. On Thursday, at an event in The Villages, Florida, Uthmeier stated that Florida law prohibited him from commenting on the report.
“I can’t say if it’s true or not,” he stated, adding that “if it is indeed true” it demonstrates that “there was no probable cause found that anybody did anything wrong.”
Without evidence, he accused Democrats of orchestrating the report, calling it a “hoax that has been debunked time and time again.”
“Nobody did anything wrong here,” he concluded.
In a statement to The New York Times on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Moody asserted that “the reports confirm what we have said all along,” claiming “neither the Department of Legal Affairs nor the former attorney general had knowledge of how the settlement money would be spent,” and calling attempts to characterize it otherwise “disingenuous.”
The jury recommended that the Florida legislature “enact a law to prevent this situation from occurring,” specifically suggesting “a law that says any monies received by the state from any source must be deposited into General Revenue, and there should be real consequences for anyone violating this law.”
On Thursday, Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly said he would “reopen an investigation” into the incident if elected, challenging Republican nominee Byron Donalds to do the same.