Gabrielle Russon
Florida Democratic Party (FDP) Chair Nikki Fried says the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) should investigate First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida charity.
According to Fried, the FDP is looking into whether Fried or a legislator needs to formally ask the DOJ to probe Hope Florida’s potential misspending of Medicaid dollars or other federal crimes.
State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican subcommittee Chair, said he plans to question Hope Florida’s attorney next week and will push to get financial records and text messages, including communications involving Gov. Ron DeSantis and his new Attorney General, James Uthmeier.
“I do believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Fried said in a virtual press conference with journalists Thursday as the scandal into Hope Florida deepens.
Hope Florida received $10 million from a Medicaid settlement and then passed the funds to two organizations. The groups then funneled millions to a political committee run by Uthmeier, who was then DeSantis’ Chief of Staff. Uthmeier’s committee sent money to the Republican Party and to help DeSantis’ fight against a marijuana legalization ballot initiative last year.
Of House Speaker Daniel Perez, Fried said, “I do think that Danny is on a mission at this point to create these checks and balances and try to bring some ethics back into government.”
“For too long, this corruption has gone unchecked. That is what happens when you only have one party controlling a state for over 30 years,” Fried added. “But finally, they have been caught in the act. Floridians deserve to know what really happened here, because fighting corruption in government is a bipartisan issue.”
Fried also took a dig at Hope Florida Foundation’s chaotic Thursday morning meeting that was disrupted by trolls who posted porn, Nazi flags and racial slurs during a Zoom meeting.
“I promise that we are going to keep this Zoom clean,” Fried assured reporters at the start of her virtual press conference.
6 comments
SuzyQ
April 18, 2025 at 2:11 pm
Nikki Fried and Roger Stone are two peas in a pod.
MH/Duuuval
April 18, 2025 at 8:39 pm
You must be mistaking Roger Stone who is a dirty trickster going way back. Before Nikki was born. He and Roy Cohn were tight.
SuzyQ
April 19, 2025 at 12:58 am
Nikki Fried and Roger Stone (yes, Trump’s Roger Stone) were interviewed jointly on WABC Radio the other day. They confirmed that they are both friends and they both hate America’s Governor.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 18, 2025 at 3:55 pm
A vile, nasty, subhuman that is completely fixated on the DeSantis family. Nikki, you couldn’t even defeat switch hitter Charlie Crist. Give it up and stick to the Republican recruiting effort.
MH/Duuuval
April 18, 2025 at 8:37 pm
I M Peachy returns, more lame than ever. (I know, this seems unlikely.)
SuzyQ
April 19, 2025 at 1:03 am
Nikki Fried and Trump’s Roger Stone team up in a joint interview on WABC Radio. Perhaps, she’s trying to get her close Republican “friend” to become the Democrats’ next gubernatorial candidate in Florida. She has a terrible track record, as does her Republican friend, Roger Stone, along with Laura Loomer the Bullhorn.