The Hope Florida Foundation was supposed to be the kind of organization that would facilitate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ’ wife , Casey , build her sketch for future political aspirations . It ’s starting to look like it ’ll sink them , instead . In the latest turn in the story of the charity - twist - trainwreck , a practical board coming together for the DeSantis - backed governing body was derail by troll who flooded the Zoom call with porn and Nazi symbols , according to areport from the Tallahassee Democrat .
The confluence of Hope Florida Foundation ’s leading was scheduled for the morning of April 17 , but , per the Tallahassee Democrat ’s account , was quickly interrupted because the member did n’t recognize how to forestall audience members from share their screens . That led to folks hang in the crowd stealing the show , display all sorting of undesirable message . The meeting was paused , and a “ technical difficulty – please place upright by ” message was display while the admins tried ( and failed ) to get a hold on things before terminate the affair on the whole . When they tried to restart the encounter , it flush it because , allot to a pop - up substance seen by citizenry strain to join the 2nd endeavour , “ emcee has another meeting in progress . ”
So , about the “ why ” of that encounter , which did finally encounter six hour after its schedule clip , fit in to the Tampa Bay Times . TheHope Florida Foundationis in a bit of hot water . The organization , which was started by Casey DeSantis to reduce politics spending on social welfare programs by replacing them with faith - based organizations and non - net , is at the center of a investigation over an allegedly illegal donation that is rapidly unravel the board and even has Ron DeSantis prove to distance himself from his wife .
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis look on during a campaign stop with “DeSantis 2024” signs behind them© Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
It all start with a fishy $ 10 million contribution made to Hope Florida , which total from Medicaid care wheeler dealer Centene . That grown check was part of a large $ 67 million out - of - Margaret Court colony between the company and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration . According to Politico , Centene was directed to put $ 10 million of that settlement straight in the coffers of Hope Florida Foundation , which may have amounted to an illegal transference of investment company that should have pass to the country .
That $ 10 million wasallegedly used by Hope Floridato help two formation — Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida ’s futurity — with their efforts to defeat a voting measure that would have legalized marijuana in the state , which ultimatelyfailed to garner the 60 % supportneeded to go past last November . Those donation from Hope Florida to the radical were reportedly encouraged by Governor DeSantis ’ then - gaffer of staff James Uthmeier , and , according to the Tampa Bay Times , those two groups move on to make significant donation to the political military action committee control by Uthmeier , who wasnamed Florida attorney generalearlier this class .
The web is already pretty tangled , and that ’s just the start of it . Republican state representative Alex Andrade hasaccusedUthmeier and Hope Florida of enlist in fraud and money laundering , and they do n’t seem to have any good answers for those accusations . In the ab initio hijacked meeting , Hope Florida president Joshua Hayadmittedthat he could n’t account for the $ 10 million donation , nor what it was used for . “ We have no monitoring procedures . We have no staff , ” he said on the call .
The developing outrage appears like it might put an end to Casey DeSantis ’ political ambitions before they even depart , as it wasexpected that she would launch her own bidto become Governor of Florida in 2026 after her husband ’s 2nd terminal figure total to an oddment . Now , Ron seems like he ’s making certain that it ’s only her career that is over . originally this hebdomad , when asked about the situation at Hope Florida , DeSantis took the chance to throw his married woman under the bus and back it up just to verify he hit her .
“ I really had no possession of this , ” hetold the media . “ I did n’t devise it . She devised it . She rig the vision . She executed the vision . ” He did say that the organization has had “ confirming final result , ” but that seems like a cherry on top of a shit sundae that he served to her . certain seems like he ’s not concerned in being the first man .
That say , being an alleged fraudster is anything but a career - ender in Florida . Republican Rick Scott was the chief operating officer of a company that was hit with thebiggest fine ever for Medicare and Medicaid fraud , and he managed to gain not just two terms as Florida ’s regulator but is still representing the state in the US Senate . There ’s not much that is truly disqualifying down there .
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