Florida Prosecutor Reportedly Opens Criminal Investigation Related to Charity Championed by DeSantis’s Wife

Prosecutors in Florida have opened a criminal investigation related to a charity foundation supported by Governor DeSantis’s wife, according to a report Tuesday.The disclosure came after the Miami Herald requested records related to the Hope Florida Foundation, started in 2021 to provide resources for state residents while helping them become economically self-sufficient. The media outlet says its request for documents from a state representative, Alex Andrade, was denied by Leon County prosecutors. The records custodian for the state attorney’s office, Jack Campbell, said the documents provided by Mr. Andrade to the prosecutors couldn’t be released to the public because they are “part of an open, on-going investigation.”It was not immediately clear who is at the center of the investigation or the specifics that spurred the probe.House Republicans in the Sunshine State alleged earlier this year that Mr. DeSantis’s administration had illegally shifted a $10 million settlement with a Medicaid contractor to a political committee headed by the governor’s chief of staff at the time.In an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Mr. DeSantis addressed the probe into Hope Florida when asked about it by a reporter.“Based on what?” the governor said of the reported investigation. “Well, I mean, I can tell you, this has been a very successful program. Everything that’s been thrown at it is pure politics.”He added: “I believe in this program deeply, and I stand by it 100 percent.”Hope Florida is a state program initiated by Casey DeSantis — who is reported to be considering a run for governor after her husband leaves office in 2026 due to term limits — aimed at getting state residents off government welfare in favor of support provided by churches and nonprofits. The Hope Florida Foundation, its charity branch, was established to provide support.The DeSantis administration allocated to the foundation $10 million from a $67 million settlement with a Medicaid contractor, Centene, which was over-billing for prescription drugs, according to the Herald.Days later, the charity handed $5 million to two nonprofit organizations. The groups then sent at least $8.5 million to a political committee that was set up to oppose last year’s ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. The measure failed. Mr. Andrade recently called the transaction an illegal diversion of Medicaid funds.“It does appear … that they were complicit in full knowledge of what they were doing in the misuse of these Medicaid funds,” he said last month at a house health care budget subcommittee meeting.

Florida Prosecutor Reportedly Opens Criminal Investigation Related to Charity Championed by DeSantis’s Wife

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