The governor of Florida Ron DeSantis demanded in Miami the criminal prosecution of those who leaked a secret grand jury report accusing his administration of diverting funds to the Hope Florida Foundation — a charitable initiative led by First Lady Casey DeSantis — after a court of appeals ordered the complete removal of the document.
DeSantis held a press conference on Thursday, a day after the First District Court of Appeal of Florida ordered the complete suppression of the text, which concluded that 10 million dollars from a Medicaid agreement had been funneled to Hope Florida and, from there, to political committees associated with the governor.
"Whoever leaked this report must be prosecuted," he stated. "There has only been one crime committed, and that is the one committed by the individuals who illegally leaked the report. That is the only crime. No other crime. We need everyone to be held accountable for that."
The Republican leader described the ruling as "probably the greatest legal blow I have seen in my entire career as an elected official" and declared it a "complete and total victory" for Hope Florida.
According to the court, the state attorney's office of Leon County, Jack Campbell, distributed the sealed report through two mass emails to 49 recipients in January 2026, while the document was still under secrecy and before the legal deadline of 15 days that Florida law grants to those named to contest it. CBS News Miami published it in August.
"I believe it is necessary to hold accountable the individuals who disseminated this information because I consider it to be very serious and motivated by politics," DeSantis added.
Alongside the governor was Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, who had been identified by the grand jury as a key figure in the fraudulent scheme. “If someone proves that there was a violation, regardless of where it occurs, I will investigate it,” said Uthmeier, who is campaigning for the elections on November 3rd.
The controversy originated from a $67 million agreement reached by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration with Centene, a Medicaid contractor. Of that total, $57 million went to the state treasury, and $10 million was paid directly to Hope Florida.
The grand jury described the operation as a "sophisticated scheme" to finance political activities, although they concluded that there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against anyone.
The court, in an opinion written by Judge Lance E. Neff —appointed by DeSantis himself in 2023— stated that the $10 million "was never public money" because Centene paid it directly to the foundation without going through the State.
The ruling harshly criticized state prosecutor Jack Campbell for distributing the report before those affected could challenge it, in violation of confidentiality laws.
"It was an excessively broad handling of a confidential document that violated the requirement of confidentiality before those named could be heard," concludes the resolution.
DeSantis also took the opportunity at the press conference to defend his wife Casey, whom media outlets such as The New York Times, ABC News, and CBS have linked to the management of the foundation.
"She is not on the board of directors, she is not executive, she was not involved in the agreement with the AHCA or in any of the donations. She has never received a dime for anything she has done. Those were lies meant to defame someone who has done a good job," said the governor.
The president of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, rejected DeSantis's narrative and noted that no one defended the grand jury's findings during the appeal process.
"The DeSantis administration worked overtime to keep this report buried, spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lawyers. This is what unchecked power looks like after decades of one-party rule in Tallahassee," Fried stated. "Voters will have the final say this November."
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