‘At the end of the day, you had a complaint by a legislator with nefarious motives.’
Attorney General James Uthmeier took a victory lap over the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to end the federal investigation into Hope Florida.
Gov. Ron DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern announced on his X account that the DOJ has set aside its investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation. The probe was looking into controversial funding decisions that have bedeviled the Governor and Uthmeier for much of the past year.
“We appreciate the DOJ putting this sideshow to bed once and for all,” Redfern said.
Uthmeier called the entire episode a “nothing burger” at a news conference in Tallahassee.
Hope Florida came under scrutiny last year after news broke that the organization was funneled $10 million from a Medicaid settlement that was supposed to go to state coffers. Much of that money later ended up in the Keep Florida Clean committee chaired by Uthmeier to fight the marijuana legalization effort in 2024. Uthmeier was Chief of Staff for DeSantis at the time.
Uthmeier said it’s no surprise the DOJ is ditching the investigation.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s a good result. We’re tired of the distractions,” Uthmeier said.
There is still a grand jury in Florida looking into the case. Uthmeier said he would defer to prosecutors for further comment on that end.
Uthmeier has also blamed much of the Hope Florida flap on Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, who has said Hope Florida “defrauded” the state.
“At the end of the day, you had a complaint by a legislator with nefarious motives,” Uthmeier said.
The tension between the two Republicans has been rising in the past year. On Monday, Uthmeier called for Andrade to be removed as Chair of the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee.