Florida Paid Lawyers $800/Hour to Block Hope Florida Grand Jury Report
State agencies spent thousands on private attorneys to keep the investigation secret while Governor DeSantis called the scandal a hoax.
KEY POINTS
- Leon County grand jury probed $10M Medicaid fund diversion to nonprofit behind Hope Florida
- State paid private lawyers up to $800/hour to fight the grand jury findings in closed proceedings
- AG opinion bars public funds for employee legal fees in grand jury matters; AG Uthmeier was a subject
- Appeals court ordered report expunged, ruling grand jury exceeded authority without indictments
A Leon County grand jury investigated the diversion of $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement into a nonprofit tied to first lady Casey DeSantis' welfare initiative. State agencies hired private law firms to represent officials scrutinized by the jury, paying rates up to $800 an hour. A longstanding attorney general opinion bars using public funds for such legal fees. Attorney General James Uthmeier, a central figure in the probe, hosts that opinion on his website.
This week, a state appeals court sided with the officials and ordered the grand jury report expunged. The court ruled the jury acted outside its authority by naming officials without indicting or exonerating anyone. The opinion described the report as careless in grammar, mistaken in law, and unfaithful to its own record.
“A grand jury that declares the law broken yet returns no indictment acts outside 'the lawful ambit of grand jury authority' and is on that account 'unlawful'.”
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