Democrats go on the offense, Republicans play defense after Hope Florida grand jury report leak

A Florida grand jury report, leaked to CBS Miami after months under seal, found that $10 million from a Medicaid drug-overpricing settlement was misappropriated and funneled through the Hope Florida Foundation to nonprofits that funded a campaign against a recreational marijuana ballot measure. The report implicates Attorney General James Uthmeier, DeSantis chief of staff Jason Weida, and says U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody knew of the transfer, though no one was criminally charged.

Democrats including party chair Nikki Fried and attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez called for resignations and framed the findings as evidence of entrenched corruption ahead of the 2026 election. Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed the substance of the report, focused his criticism on whoever leaked it, and called the underlying $10 million transfer 'legally sound'; Uthmeier called the entire probe a 'politically motivated witch hunt.'

The grand jury itself noted that nobody would take responsibility for the original decision to route the money to Hope Florida and that the near-universal presence of lawyers advising each step created an obstacle to prosecution — a finding read very differently by the two parties fighting over its release.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.