TALHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has refused to take over records related to Florida charities, according to Republicans investigating the organization.
Earlier this month, Rep. Alex Andredo requested bank records and other information from the state, as well as other information about the Hope Florida Foundation.
The charity then handed over these records for the release of DeSantis’ children and families, Andredo said. But the department overseeing the charity “is just sitting now,” he told The Times/Herald on Wednesday.
“They refuse to answer calls,” Andredo said of the department.
Andrade is considering the state’s decision to divert $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the foundation. The Hope Florida charity began in the Children and Family Division and was created to support the Hope Florida program, which seeks to help Floridians receive government assistance.
Andrade is also investigating state agencies for healthcare institutions in the state as part of his investigation. This is because they instructed Medicaid company Centene to pay the $10 million given to the foundation from a $67 million settlement related to overcharged prescription drugs.
He requested records separately from the healthcare administration agency. The agency told him it “edited and reviewed” the records on April 22, but like children and families, it has not been handed over yet.
“They refuse to produce them or respond to our calls now,” Andredo said of the agency.
When asked why the records were not handed over, Desantis spokesman Sierra Dean pointed out in an email last week that Andrade said his subcommittee had concluded its investigation into Hope Florida. Andredo made the announcement after three key witnesses did not appear at the committee hearing to answer questions.
“In any case, the agency worked with the subcommittee in good faith, sending representatives to multiple subcommittee hearings and providing information to refute Mr Andredo’s accusations,” Dean said. “But Mr Andredo ignored the evidence before him.”
She added, “He acts maliciously, like the Tampa Bay Times, and is looking for the next hit.”
Times/Herald is also struggling to get records related to Hope Florida. In February, they requested several records, including the foundation’s bank ledger, which will acquire all financial transactions since it was created in August 2023. Records must be released in accordance with the state’s public records laws.
On Wednesday, the foundation’s lawyers responded by taking over the transaction’s e-spreadsheet. That metadata showed it was created in January.
The spreadsheet lacked both the $10 million received from the Centene settlement and the $5 million grant it gave to the two nonprofits. Two nonprofits that have not disclosed donors have sent at least $8.5 million to a political committee overseen by then-directed Desantis James Uthmeier in a series of deals that Andrade said were illegal.
Desantis and Uthmeier denied any fraud.
Andredo said the state has no faith in dealing with state businesses, responding to records demands that “bureaucrats are not competent enough.”
“It’s clear that they’re being told to sabotage and distract them now,” Andredo said. “This issue isn’t gone just because they’re playing stupid.”
Andrade’s committee suddenly dropped the investigation into a charity last week, but said he is still considering it in his ability as a lawmaker to oversee some of the state’s budget.
He requested state bank records, emails about the settlement, emails about money sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, and drafting the settlement itself.
He said he requested records from the Children and Family Division, Healthcare Administration Agency, the Governor’s Office and the Foundation. He also called out all text messages from the governor’s office and logs between Uthmeier and others involved in the $10 million diversion and subsequent transactions.
Although Florida has a wide range of public records laws, since its inauguration in 2019, the Desantis administration has neatly withheld documents requested by news outlets and the public. Records can take years, and media outlets and others have repeatedly sued his administration over the years.
In 2023, Clickorlando reported that state agencies often compile records within days or weeks, but often send them to the governor’s office for additional reviews. That review may take several months.
