Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) slammed an obvious investigation into the Hope Florida Basis, a corporation linked to first woman Casey DeSantis’s signature welfare help program often called Hope Florida, on Tuesday.
“Based on what?” the governor stated throughout a press convention in Tampa selling Hope Florida, when requested in regards to the investigation, which was first reported by the Tampa Bay Occasions and the Miami Herald.
“Everything that’s been thrown at it is pure politics. And I don’t think it’s appropriate to be doing politics, whether it’s a congressional or a state committee or any of these other things,” the governor continued. “I believe in this program deeply, and I stand by it 100%.”
Casey DeSantis stated on the similar occasion that they’d “continue to double down on hope.”
“This isn’t about politics, that is about doing good on behalf of the individuals who deserve an opportunity for any person to battle for them,” she stated.
The Florida information retailers reported on Tuesday that after they filed a request for data associated to the Hope Florida Basis that prosecutors obtained from state Rep. Alex Andrade (R), who was main the investigation into the muse within the state Home, the general public data administrator for state legal professional Jack Campbell responded that the knowledge couldn’t be launched as a result of it “is part of an open, on-going investigation.”
The Hill additionally submitted a request for the knowledge and obtained the identical response.
Final month, the state Home Healthcare Funds Subcommittee dropped its investigation right into a $10 million donation to the charity after two witnesses didn’t present as much as testify.
At query is whether or not the $10 million donation to the Hope Florida Basis was cash from a settlement settlement involving the state’s largest Medicaid contractor, Centene Corp., after Florida was overbilled for Medicaid.
Critics say a portion of that settlement, all of which was meant to be returned to state and federal coffers, was despatched to the Hope Florida Basis and finally ended up within the fingers of political teams that campaigned in opposition to a poll measure to legalize marijuana final fall. Ron DeSantis was among the many politicians against the measure’s passage. DeSantis and his allies deny the cash was not from the settlement.
The governor has additionally maintained the investigation was a part of a “manufactured” smear marketing campaign in opposition to him and his spouse. The governor and first woman have continued to carry occasions selling this system throughout the state.
