Lawmakers end Hope Florida charity probe without hearing from key players
TALLAHASSEE — House lawmakers are ending their probe into Gov. Ron DeSantis' Hope Florida Foundation without hearing testimony from the organization's lawyer or leaders of two groups that got $5 million grants from the charity.
Rep. Alex Andrade, the Pensacola Republican who has been spearheading the investigation, said Thursday that he believed Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and the charity's lawyer, Jeff Aaron, committed criminal acts when they moved $10 million from a Medicaid overbilling settlement to the foundation. The foundation gave the money to two other nonprofits, who then gave $8.5 million to be spent on political advertising, Andrade said.
But Andrade said his committee wouldn't be the ones to prosecute them. The legislative session is scheduled to end next week.
'While I'm firmly convinced that James Uthmeier and Jeff Aaron engaged in a conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, and that several parties played a role in the misuse of $10 million in Medicaid funds, we as legislators will not be the ones making the ultimate charging decisions,' Andrade told lawmakers Thursday.
'I believe our work on this topic in this capacity as a subcommittee will be concluded,' he added.
The $10 million came from the state Medicaid contractor Centene as part of a $67 million legal settlement for overbilling for prescription drugs. State officials 'directed' the company in September to donate to the Hope Florida Foundation.
Over the next three weeks, the foundation board held a secret meeting to award $5 million of it to a 501(c)(4) overseen by Florida Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Wilson, and the board's chairperson awarded another $5 million to St. Petersburg-based Save Our Society from Drugs.
Both those groups then sent nearly all the money to a political committee overseen by Uthmeier, who was then the governor's chief of staff. Text messages showed Uthmeier told the leader of Save Our Society from Drugs, Amy Ronshausen, to apply for the money.
'There's no question that these were Medicaid funds steered by the governor's chief of staff through secret and clandestine actions to his own political committee,' Andrade told lawmakers Thursday.
Andrade said earlier this month that he was going to issue a subpoena to Uthmeier, but backed off the threat the next day. He still has numerous requests for records, including text messages and call logs, outstanding with DeSantis' agencies.
'The Governor's office WANTS this to become a spectacle to distract from the real issues,' Andrade said in a text message afterward. 'I know what I need to know as a legislator, and it's up to the FBI and DOJ (Department of Justice) to care about fighting public corruption.'
Wilson and Ronshausen were invited to testify before Thursday's committee, but both backed out minutes before it began, Andrade said. Aaron initially said he could attend a hearing Friday, but he, too, backed out.
'I will note to any member of the Florida Chamber of Commerce that it does appear from everything indicated by Mr. Wilson, they were complicit and had full knowledge of what they were doing in the misuse of these Medicaid funds,' Andrade said. 'I would be extremely concerned as the Florida Chamber of Commerce.'
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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