‘Frustration’: Daniel Perez wants ‘answers’ from Gov. DeSantis about $10M steered to Hope Florida in settlement deal

Daniel Perez. Image via OANN.

House Speaker Daniel Perez is responding to reporting that $10 million steered to a charity linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis was funneled into political advocacy advertising via a political committee associated with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“There were $10 million that should have gone back to the State Treasury in a settlement agreement between Centene and AHCA, which is an agency of the state of Florida, and instead it went to Hope Florida and it did so in the dark of night. And that’s really where the frustration comes from,” the Miami Republican told Matt Gaetz on OANN Friday.

DeSantis called the $10 million to Hope Florida the “cherry on top” and a “voluntary contribution” as part of the $67 million settlement agreement as he dismissed concerns as “drivel” and “political nonsense.”

But the House Speaker sees it differently.

“How much of this money should have gone to the federal government? This is a Medicaid program. These are Medicaid dollars and how is that question is going to be answered by the Governor’s Office. I don’t have that answer and all we’re asking for here is transparency and accountability and and it’s shocking to me that DeSantis, who I’ve considered a friend and who I’ve endorsed for president in years past, is trying to shy away from transparency and accountability. All we’re asking for is the answers that have been asked by members of the Florida House, in their right, and we haven’t gotten those answers,” Perez said.

A House Health Care Budget Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, which AHCA called a “complete ambush,” didn’t clarify the matter.

Chair Alex Andrade, a fellow Republican who has lately been at odds with the Governor on many issues, said the “$10 million transfer of funds … was probably illegal” and questioned the assertion from Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) Secretary Shevaun Harris that the settlement wasn’t “taxpayer funds.”

“All options are on the table, including subpoenas,” Perez said when asked how far the House would go to get answers.

$8.5 million of the money allegedly was moved and programmed ultimately to mobilize against constitutional amendments through former DeSantis Chief of Staff and current Attorney General James Uthmeier’s “Keep Florida Clean” political committee, much of it coming via the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s “Secure Florida’s Future” account.

Perez said there was a “possibility” that happened and that he sought “transparency on how that money got to the final point.” He said there were “breadcrumbs” suggesting the Florida Chamber was involved in that process, and he hoped next week’s meeting of the Andrade committee would reveal fact patterns.

Gaetz, who may run for AG against Uthmeier next year, went on to ask Perez a leading question.

“You’ve got the financial records from Keep Florida Clean and look at this millions of dollars, millions of dollars coming into that from Secure Florida’s Future. So Secure Florida’s Future is getting money from Hope Florida and then in turn providing that money to a political committee run by the now Attorney General,” Gaetz said. “What confidence can Floridians have that the current administration can get to the bottom of whether or not this money was used for political ads?”

“I think all of this can be put to bed if the answers were actually given. The problem is we’re not getting any answers,” Perez said.