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Key witnesses testified before a grand jury yesterday in the criminal investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation.
Reports say that Republican lawmaker, State Rep. Alex Andrade and Executive Director of “Save our Society from Drugs” (SOS) Amy Ronshausen were seen entering the Leon County Courthouse yesterday.
Earlier this year, Andrade led a House investigation into whether Medicaid settlement money was passed through the Hope Florida Foundation to a political committee controlled by the governor’s then chief of staff, James Uthmeier.
Andrade claims that the DeSantis administration used SOS, along with another non-profit organization, as part of an illegal scheme to divert $10 million from a $67 million Medicaid settlement with Centene, a health care contractor.
Documents show that SOS received $5 million from the Hope Florida Foundation last year. The Miami Herald reports that day after receiving the funds they made the first of three donations totaling $4.75 million to the political committee, Keep Florida Clean.
According to state records, the decision to give the funds from the settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation was decided just weeks before the public voted on whether to pass Amendment 3, known as the recreational marijuana bill.
Both Governor DeSantis and James Uthmeier have denied any wrongdoing.
Grand Jury proceedings are private. Unlike a jury, which decides guilt or innocence, a grand jury decides whether to issue an indictment or not. The proceedings are typically limited to the prosecutor, witnesses and the grand jurors.
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