Breaking: Grand Jury Supoenas Issued in Hope Florida investigation

The Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald report that state prosecutors in Tallahassee are convening a grand jury relating to the Hope Florida Foundation scandal. The State Attorney’s Office for the 2nd Judicial Circuit has issued subpoenas for witnesses to appear before a grand jury the week of Oct. 13, two sources close to the matter told the Times/Herald.

• The witnesses and the subject of the probe have not been disclosed. State Attorney Jack Campbell declined to comment.

Yesterday, I reported that DCF had declined to reappoint the Hope Florida Foundation chair, Joshua Hay, and two board members that asked questions about a $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was received by the nonprofit and quickly funneled not to First Lady Casey DeSantis’s Hope Florida initiative but to help defeat a recreational marijuana amendment that Gov. DeSantis opposed.

In April, State Representative Alex Andrade halted his legislative investigation in the Hope Florida Foundation after key witnesses declined to testify before his subcommittee.

The investigation, which has been examining allegations of misappropriated Medicaid settlement funds, took an unexpected turn when the foundation’s attorney, Jeff Aaron, and James Uthmeier, both central figures in the probe, and the heads of the two nonprofits, who facilitated the movement of millions to a political committee run by Uthmeier, refused to appear for scheduled testimony. Aaron still advises the Foundation Board, and Gov. DeSantis appointed Uthmeier to Florida Attorney General, replacing Ashley Moody, whom DeSantis appointed to a U.S. Senate seat.

Andrade told Inweekly that his investigation had already established that Uthmeier and Aaron “conspired to move money from a Medicaid settlement through the Hope Florida Foundation to (Securing Florida’s Future and Save Our Society from Drugs), which immediately turned around and gave it to James Uthmeier’s PAC.”

This could be what the grand jury is investigating.