The controversy surrounding Hope Florida continues to escalate as Rep. Alex Andrade, chair of the Health Care Budget Subcommittee, prepares to question officials starting this Thursday about the alleged misuse of $10 million in Medicaid settlement funds.
- Last week, Andrade sent formal letters to several officials, including a request to Jason Weida, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Chief of Staff, for records related to the Hope Florida Foundation. In an April 18 letter to Weida, Andrade wrote, ”I am confident that you share our commitment to full transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds.”
- Adding to the drama is who will appear at the hearings. Jeff Aaron, Hope Florida’s attorney with political ties to DeSantis, initially said he would be available Friday for questioning but later backed out, citing attorney-client privilege.
- Andrade has warned that if information isn’t provided in a timely manner, ”we may be required to obtain that information with the use of subpoenas.”
Following the Money
The investigation centers on $10 million from a Medicaid settlement funneled to Hope Florida, an initiative First Lady Casey DeSantis started. From there, millions reportedly went to a political committee controlled by James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ former Chief of Staff, who has since been appointed Attorney General, to fight last year’s marijuana ballot measure.
In my interview with Andrade, he didn’t mince words about the severity of the situation.
“In the real world, if someone defrauded the state or a charity of $10 million, someone would go to prison,” Andrade told me.
“These people are acting like it’s Camp Tallahassee, and this money’s not real. It’s absolutely real. These are taxpayer funds that were absconded with by our now Attorney General in cahoots with people like Mark Wilson and Jeff Aaron.”
DeSantis Attacks Andrade
The political battle has intensified with Governor DeSantis now directly attacking Andrade. The Restore Our Nation (RON) PAC is sending texts from DeSantis asking voters to contact the Pensacola lawmaker: ”Tell them (sic) to stand with the people and me to keep Florida free.”
- Andrade finds the attacks humorous rather than intimidating. ”Ron PAC is a federal PAC that Governor DeSantis should not be coordinating with… I’ve gotten nothing but encouragement from folks who’ve received these texts. It has just been kind of a source of laughter.”
During an appearance at Pensacola State College last week, DeSantis lashed out at House Republicans, describing them as ”rotten” and claiming ”they are behaving more like Democrats.” He even accused them of ”stabbing you in the back” and ”trying to manufacture smears to support their political agenda.”
- Andrade responded to the governor’s behavior: ”What’s not healthy is the constant incessant, at this point, temper tantrums and meltdowns he’s having… he needs to grow up, put his big boy pants on, accepts the fact that this is a constitutional process and the legislature is a separate branch of government.”
“Comically Incompetent”
The investigation has revealed troubling details about the Hope Florida Foundation, including that it has no employees and is missing tax documents. Andrade has been impressed with the governor’s staff, several of which has attacked him on social media.
“Well, one thing I think people need to kind of internalize is that the governor’s office runs far more akin to say ”Veep” than it does ”House of Cards.”
The lawmaker added: ”These people might be petty, they’re certainly incompetent, but it’s comical how incompetent they are. These people, we’re not sending our best to the governor’s office right now. These people are not doing a good job of even covering their tracks, and they just simply refuse to produce information and hope people kind of forget about it and get swept under the rug.”
When asked about who would typically investigate such matters, Andrade noted the irony: ”Unfortunately, the person that would normally investigate this is the person that’s committing the most egregious acts. I mean, it’s unfortunate, but James Uthmeier cannot prosecute anyone else for money laundering or wire fraud with a straight face.”
Why this matters: As hearings begin today, this escalating conflict between the legislative and executive branches represents what Andrade calls ”a major, major scandal” that demands accountability.
