Court Orders Hope Florida Report Expunged

Florida's First District Court of Appeal unanimously ordered full expungement of a grand jury report on $10 million connected to a Medicaid settlement and the Hope Florida Foundation. The court held the grand jury exceeded its authority by accusing people in Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration without indicting them, and that disclosure of the confidential report violated the rights of those named to challenge it. The grand jury had declined to bring charges, citing insufficient evidence. The appeals court said the settlement was legal and the money went directly to the foundation, not the state. Funds later passed through two nonprofits to a political committee led by then-DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier, which opposed 2024 ballot measures on abortion rights and recreational marijuana. The report had already been leaked and widely reported before the order. Contested: none found.