PENSACOLA, Fla. — The DeSantis administration announced Wednesday that the Department of Justice has dropped its investigation into the Hope Florida scandal.

State Representative Alex Andrade of Pensacola has led the charge for an investigation into the diversion of $10 million by the governor’s office using the Hope Florida Foundation. He calls it fraud and money laundering.

He told WEAR News on Wednesday he won’t believe the case has been dropped until it comes from the Department of Justice itself.

Andrade says the news surfacing claiming the DOJ would not be pursuing the investigation was based on an anonymous source from Washington D.C.

“Governor DeSantis a few years back made a big deal about anonymous sources in news media,” he said. “So for him to jump all over a single anonymous source in this circumstance is a little bizarre.”

The investigation is centered on a Medicaid settlement where $10 million was diverted away from the state’s general revenue fund and into a non-profit led by First Lady Casey DeSantis.

The money ultimately went to a Political Action Committee to fight a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.

Representative Andrade has accused Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier of money laundering and wire fraud.

“The facts haven’t changed,” Andrade said. “Ten million dollars went from our Medicaid program to James Uthemeier’s political committee. They were spent improperly.”

DeSantis says claims of fraud are just a hoax. He took shots at Andrade in an online post.

“I don’t understand why the governor thinks that a lack of prosecution right now is somehow evidence that everything was OK,” Andrade said. “I mean, you want to stick to the facts. The fact remains $10 million in Medicaid funds were funneled to a PAC.”

WEAR News reported in October that the Hope Florida controversy was set to go before a grand jury.

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Andrade says as far as he’s concerned, nothing has changed, and there will be no update until an official statement is made by the DOJ.