Florida Democrats want Republicans to return nearly $10 million of Hope Florida money at the center of a political scandal.
The Florida Democratic Party called on the Republican Party of Florida to return the nearly $10 million they received in the Hope Florida scandal. Democrats said that through a complex series of dark money transactions (illustrated in the chart below), millions of dollars from a settlement intended for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, or AHCA, ended up passing through multiple political committees before eventually being used to oppose a citizen-led ballot initiative legalizing cannabis.
“The Republican Party of Florida was complicit in a criminal scheme that defrauded taxpayers to finance political advertising,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “The Hope Florida scandal is a disgrace — and if the Florida Democratic Party or any elected Democrat stole nearly $10 million from the state, people would already have gone to jail.”
The Democratic Party also released a “wanted” poster for the $10 million, stating in the description that Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration funneled taxpayer dollars into “a charity doubling as a money-laundering scheme to bankroll Ron’s political ambitions and undermine citizen-led initiatives.” The reward is listed as “accountability,” and the money is wanted for “fraud,” according to the Florida Democrats.
“Floridians deserve to trust that their government is free of corruption,” FDP Chair Nikki Fried continued. “The damage has already been done, but there’s one way to begin making it right. I’m calling on the RPOF to do the right thing and give the millions of dollars they stole from Floridians back to the State of Florida.”
Florida Democrats are also sharing this chart to illustrate the political scandal they are trying to push:
