TALHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis has promoted last year’s Governor’s Cup Charity Golf Weekend as a successful fundraising for the fledgling Hope Florida Foundation, saying he raised “a ton of money.”
But most of the attendees, including governor-government officials, his former campaign advisers and state contractors, donated to it. Some said that despite the nonprofit providing custom golf bags and paying for the room, food and drink, they didn’t even know that the charity sponsored it.
The two-day event at the private club shows not only the overlap between the foundation’s charity and DeSantis’ political operations, but also the troublingness of the organization’s economic surveillance almost two years ago.
Following questions from The Times/Herald, the charity is rushing to submit documents required by Florida law and notify state officials and lawmakers of the value of the gifts provided as part of the event. The report was until March 1st.
Foundation officials also amend the charity’s IRS tax returns to show more accurately how successful the event was.
It was not the first time the Hope Florida Foundation, which benefits a program led by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, has failed to submit any material documents. In April, its board chairman told state legislators that the charity had not filed a tax return and had prepared the audits required by law.
The charity is under investigation after diverting $10 million from a settlement with the state’s largest Medicaid contractor to the nonprofit.
Non-profit experts say the golf fundraiser held last May at the Water Sand Club near Destin is unusual in multiple ways.
Charity records show that participants have only 14 of the 60 participants, unlike typical fundraisers where participants are asked to pay tickets that benefit the charity at least.
Additionally, participants received free rooms for up to $654 per night, as well as food and drinks and other charity dimes with free rooms. Some received custom golf bags.
Many, including Senator Ed Hooper of Clearwater and Rep. Lawrence McClure of Dover, said they were unaware that the event was a fundraiser for the Hope Florida Foundation.
Hooper, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said:
Under federal law, the costs of charities must promote their mission, said Robert Tigner, a regulatory council of nonprofits who advocate for nonprofits.
“It’s hard to see how governors deal with everyone they know in a good time, wander wildly outside those boundaries and understand how it fits into a legitimate mission,” Tigner said.
The Governor’s Cup was the debut fundraiser for the Hope Florida Foundation. The charity was created by the DeSantis administration two years ago and supports the state’s Hope Florida program. Florida uses hotlines to connect people with nonprofit charities and social services.
The foundation is supposed to help the nation carry out its mission, at least in part, by granting its participating organizations.
It was scrutinized by House Republicans earlier this year after it was revealed that it had accepted $10 million from a $67 million settlement with a Medicaid contractor in October. The Leon County State Attorney’s Office said there was an open criminal investigation, including a deal.
Room receipts and other records show that other fundraising records obtained by The Times/Herald through public records demands showed no board members.
The Hope Florida Foundation did not answer questions about why dozens of people received the free room or whether DeSantis was in it. In a statement, charity lawyer Jeff Aaron said the governor’s cup was “an extraordinary success” with a net profit of around $700,000. That’s well above the $425,000 the foundation’s current tax return said the event has filed. This is something the charity is making amendments.
“Everyone involved in this event played a key role in enabling fundraising,” Aaron said.
Desantis official received a free room
The Governor’s Cup costs charity $95,547. This includes room rates and rates for $36,642. Fees and receipts were managed by former employees of DeSantis’ Governor’s Campaign, not by the foundation.
Some guests were associated with companies with state contracts, such as Tidal Basin, North Highland Co., and Centene. Centene gave the foundation $100,000 around the Governor’s Cup event, the record shows.
Several lobbyists in attendance told The Times/Herald they knew it was for the Hope Florida Foundation.
“We understand that golf, dinner and overnight stays are part of the fundraising costs for the event,” said Slater Bayliss, a longtime lobbyist and Republican consultant. He said he and his colleague Chris Cheney represent four clients who donated to the event: Centene, Tampa Electric, Tidal Basin and the Simply Healthcare plan.
“I’m a huge advocate for Hope in Florida and I believe in that mission,” Bayliss said.
Records show that three members of the Hope Florida Program attended the first night. These include the then divisions of Shevaun Harris and Ginger Folk, mothers who endured DeSantis as evidence that the state’s programme would work. Fork could not be reached for comment.
However, unlike all the others on the guest list, they were “self (of their own) for the payment of the room,” the records state.
Aaron didn’t answer when asked why. A spokesman for the state Department of Health Administration said Harris was there to give a presentation about the program, and her and Fork’s costs were paid by the Children and Family Department.
The remaining attendees who did not donate included 13 members of the Desantis administration. Among them was James Usmier, the highest-ranking staff member at the time, and now the state attorney general. Jason Wida, then Secretary of Healthcare Administration, is now DeSantis’ Chief of Staff. And Anastasios Camusus, who was the vice chief of staff at the time, was appointed to the Florida State Board of Education this month.
A Desantis spokesman said lawmakers and staff were involved “for fundraising.”
There were five staff and advisors from Desantis’ failed presidential election. These included Deputy Campaign Manager David Polyansky, Adviser Marc Reichelderfer and voter Ryan Tyson, who each received a $169 room.
Tyson told the Times/Herald he didn’t know that the Florida Foundation had paid for his room until the reporter sent him a receipt. He also said he couldn’t remember whether the reason for the golf tournament was to raise funds for the charity.
“I’m happy to refund the $189.28 they spent on my stay because there was no reason for them to do that,” he said.
When notified by a reporter, Polyansky also said he intends to pay back the foundations of his room. He said he flew to town, primarily to catch up with the governor, and he said he didn’t remember details of the event.
Records show that two charter communications executives, including recently named Florida A&M University president Marva Johnson, also received the room. The cable company gave $100,000 to the Republicans in Florida in the weeks leading up to and including the list of donations up to March 24th this year, but not to the foundation.
A company spokesman declined to comment.
Bennett Weiner, president and CEO of BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a standards-based charity watchdog, said he had never heard of a fundraising scenario in which participants were not asked to make a donation.
“That’s what the event is about,” he said. “Even if it’s not a mass, it’s something.”
The lawmaker received the gift
Almost a year after the event, DeSantis promoted the success at a press conference in the Panhandle.
At the time, House Committee was scrutinizing the foundation. This was used to divert at least $8.5 million from the Medicaid settlement to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier. Republican Rep. Alex Andrade calls the series of transactions illegal.
At a press conference, DeSantis picked out lawmakers who joined the Governor’s Cup because of apparent hypocrisy.
“They were all part of this,” DeSantis said. “They were all singing praise.”
On the second day, eight Republican lawmakers were present and several said they played golf with DeSantis and state officials without lobbyists. However, four people, including Hooper and McClure, said they didn’t know that the event had anything to do with the Hope Florida Foundation until they were contacted by reporters more than a year later.
Others did not return calls from The Times/Herald and were unable to contact us for comments.
Hooper said past governor cup events supported the first Tee Foundation, a charity that helps children learn to play golf. Usually, the lobbyists pick up the tabs, but he recalled the announcement that St. Joe, which owns the resort, had been paid for the room.
The St. Joe Community Foundation gave $200,000 to the charity five weeks later.
State ethics law requires state lawmakers and lawmakers, such as Wyda, and state officials, to report gifts they receive to the Ethics Committee from state-created charities. But first, the charity is supposed to let them know the value of the gift by March 1st.
No one said they had received such notice. Aaron did not answer questions about why these notifications were not sent.
Everyone should have known they were there to support the charity, said Rep. Debra Tendrich, a Palm Beach County Democrat who runs her own nonprofit. Tendrich is on the House Committee that investigated the Foundation.
“I wouldn’t have allowed staff, teams and boards to promote the event and let people leave without knowing what people support,” Tendrich said.
“For me, this seems daunting.”
Times investigative reporter Justing Garcia contributed to this report.
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