Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier defends himself in Tampa ahead Hope Florida hearings
TAMPA, Fla. - Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier defended himself in Tampa as hearings into payments made by the Hope Florida Foundation are set to begin later this week.
The heads of the non-profits that received $10 million in grants from Hope Florida will answer questions this week in front of the health care budget subcommittee. The political action committee headed by the state's new attorney general received some of that money.
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"I was not involved in the settlement negotiations related to the Hope Florida contribution," he said. "In looking at it, everything looks legal."
The backstory:
Hope Florida is a project led by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis that lawmakers have found gave $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement to non-profits that were fighting Florida's ballot amendments.
The heat is on Uthmeier two months into his term as the state's top law enforcement officer, because his political action committee, Keep Florida Clean, was the eventual recipient of that money.
Pictured: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
State lawmakers have invited the leaders of the non-profits to hearings this week.
What they're saying:
"I feel good about what we did," Uthmeier said in Tampa. "At the end of the day, non-profits can absolutely support issue committees. I think the media misunderstands the difference between issue committees and political candidate committees under the IRS code."
He has accused Pensacola State Rep. Alex Andrade, a fellow Republican, of being on a politically charged tirade.
Andrade and other state reps spent hours last week questioning the chair of Hope Florida's board, who admitted that they did not have the proper financial paperwork or proof of work they'd done to wean people off government assistance.
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"I will discuss with them exactly who they spoke to," said Andrade, "what was communicated, why they felt this was legal at the time, who gave them those assurances to fully understand who did what in this context."
Andrade has also threatened subpoenas of Uthmeier if he does not produce records of communication that he had about the settlement with health care company Centene.
Centene owed the state $67 million for over billing Medicaid payments. The $10 million that went to the PACs came from that money.
"I do not anticipate him being forthright, but what do you expect from someone who's committed money laundering and wire fraud?" Andrade said during an interview on Tuesday.
Uthmeier acknowledged Tuesday that he has an obligation to provide the records to anyone who asks. He accused Andrade of doing the bidding of marijuana companies who are upset they lost the fight over Amendment 3.
MORE: Hope Florida program under fire as Gov. DeSantis pushes for it to become state law
What's next:
Andrade said representatives from Save Our Society from Drugs and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which is connected to "Secure Florida's Future," one of the groups accused of funneling money to Uthmeier's PAC, were invited to answer questions from the health budget subcommittee on Thursday.
The attorney for the Hope Florida Foundation was invited to speak on Friday.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank.
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