TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The criminal investigation involving the fundraising arm of the Hope Florida initiative is ramping up.
The Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald are reporting prosecutors in Tallahassee are convening a grand jury and subpoenas have already been issued for witnesses to appear.
Following their initial reporting, the GOP-led Florida House started an investigation. Republican State Rep. Alex Andrade led the committee’s inquiry into the handling of a $10 million donation from the Hope Florida Foundation, the fundraising unit of the Hope Florida welfare charity, spearheaded by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis.
“Everyone involved in this point realizes this is a real issue and if this occurred in any other context, people would already be being investigated,” Andrade said.
In May, Andrade handed over all the information he had to prosecutors.
Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani supports prosecutors working to answer questions about the donation.
“This is very promising for some actual accountability here,” Eskamani said.
Eskamani added that the state house investigation could only go so far.
“The heart of this investigation stems from a Medicaid settlement,” Eskamani said.
House lawmakers said $10 million from a Medicaid settlement went from Hope Florida to two non-profits. Lawmakers then tracked those funds to a political action committee that was against legalizing recreational marijuana. It was led by now Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was also the governor’s chief of staff at the time. He has previously defended the money trail that lawmakers questioned.
"If some of those organizations were already in a fight to oppose a dangerous constitutional amendment that would've allowed recreational marijuana to be sued anywhere, there's also not a problem with that,” Uthmeier said.
The governor’s office, the state attorney general’s office, and the state attorney in Tallahassee have not responded to a request for comment.