![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MIA_06UTHEMEIERINMIAMIA.JPG\" "\\"")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, center, as speaks alongside other state law enforcement officials during a press conference at the FDLE Miami Regional Operations Center on Thursday, February 19, 2026, in Miami. <\/p>\n
Carl Juste<\/p>\n
cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wouldn\u2019t say Wednesday whether he\u2019s asked a judge to keep secret a grand jury report into the Hope Florida scandal, instead asserting during a combative press conference in Miami that he was not a target in the investigation.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he had petitioned a court to redact parts of a report detailing the grand jury\u2019s findings, Uthmeier said he didn\u2019t think anyone cared about the topic \u201cmore than the liberal media.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a grand jury proceeding<\/a> under Florida law, the contents thereof are confidential. That\u2019s not my choice, that is Florida law,\u201d he said at a news conference about a renewed focus on investigating cold cases.<\/p>\n Grand jury reports, known as presentments, only remain secret if a person named in the report asks the court to redact portions that relate to them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I can tell you is, I have not been indicted,\u201d Uthmeier added. \u201cI\u2019ve not been a suspect or a target. I\u2019ve not been involved in any criminal activity. Nobody did anything wrong here.\u201d<\/p>\n A Tallahassee grand jury was convened last fall to investigate the DeSantis administration\u2019s diversion of $10 million from a 2024 Medicaid settlement to help fund a fight against ballot initiatives that year. The Hope Florida Foundation, a state charity created for the first lady\u2019s welfare initiative<\/a>, was used to move most of the money to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier, who at the time was the governor\u2019s chief of staff.<\/p>\n A report from the grand jury could shed light on any involvement by Uthmeier and other administration officials.<\/p>\n But the report, believed to have been issued earlier this year<\/a>, has not been publicly released. Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell\u2019s office has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a presentment. In response to records requests, his office has cited a range of laws, including one about presentments remaining confidential<\/a> while a court works out whether a request to repress them should be granted. Under state law, persons named in such a report can ask a judge to repress certain parts, or all, of it.<\/p>\n The process could take months \u2014 possibly keeping the report confidential until well after November, when Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general last year by DeSantis, is up for election for the first time.<\/p>\n During Wednesday\u2019s news conference, a reporter followed up asking Uthmeier whether he opposed the report being released. Uthmeier dismissed the question, calling it \u201cpolitical nonsense\u201d and cutting off the reporter.<\/p>\n \u201cShame on you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second time in recent months Uthmeier has derided reporters in Miami questioning him about his behavior.<\/p>\n In February, Uthmeier criticized the media, shut down questioning and left the room<\/a> after multiple reporters asked him about his $100,000 adjunct faculty salary at the University of Florida during a press conference on public corruption.<\/p>\n Uthmeier\u2019s role in Hope Florida scandal<\/p>\n Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, accused Uthmeier and Hope Florida Foundation attorney Jeff Aaron of crimes last year after his House health care budget committee held hearings into the movement of the $10 million.<\/p>\n During the investigation, Andrade released text messages to the Herald\/Times showing that three days before the Hope Florida Foundation accepted the $10 million in a meeting that had not been noticed to the public, Uthmeier texted asking to speak with Amy Ronshausen, the executive director of an anti-drug nonprofit that ultimately received half the money.<\/p>\n Ronshausen later told Andrade that Uthmeier asked her to request a $5 million grant from the foundation, Andrade said<\/a>. The day after Ronshausen\u2019s nonprofit received the money, it began transferring $4.75 million to Uthmeier\u2019s political committee. Ronshausen said<\/a> that Uthmeier did not tell her what to do with the money but has not disputed that Uthmeier told her to apply for it.<\/p>\n The other $5 million was given to a nonprofit controlled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which gave $3.75 million of it to Uthmeier\u2019s committee.<\/p>\n Read more: Criminal Hope Florida probe likely concluded, but IRS inquiry could soon begin<\/a><\/p>\n Ronshausen was seen leaving the Leon County Courthouse the same day the Hope Florida grand jury was convening.<\/p>\n Andrade referred his findings last year to the state attorney\u2019s office in Leon County and the FBI.<\/p>\n The $10 million was part of a $67 million state settlement<\/a> with the Medicaid contractor Centene over allegations of overbilling for prescription drugs. Although DeSantis and state officials initially called the money a charitable contribution from Centene separate from what the company owed, the state ultimately treated all of it as taxpayer dollars<\/a>, refunding the federal government its share of the money according to federal rules.<\/p>\n Miami Herald reporter Milena Malaver and Tampa Bay Times reporter Justin Garcia contributed to this report.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3317701874207182669.jpeg\" "\\"3317701874207182669.jpeg\\"")
A text message from Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 then-Chief of Staff James Uthmeier to Save Our Society from Drugs Executive Director Amy Ronshausen on Oct. 11, 2024, where he asks to have a phone call with her. The message was provided from Rep. Alex Andrade to the Herald\/Times after a public hearing in which he requested documents related to his inquiry into the Hope Florida Foundation. He said Ronshausen provided the message and others to him as part of his request.. Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3997414339769442929.jpeg\" "\\"3997414339769442929.jpeg\\"")
A text message from Save Our Society from Drugs Executive Director Amy Ronshausen on Oct. 11, 2024, to Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 then-Chief of Staff James Uthmeier where they arrange to have a phone call. The message was provided from Rep. Alex Andrade to the Herald\/Times after a public hearing in which he requested documents related to his inquiry into the Hope Florida Foundation. He said Ronshausen provided the message and others to him as part of his request. Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola <\/p>\n