Hand it over or face a subpoena: House demands tax documents, other records as Hope Florida dive gets deeper

'Mistakes were made' at Hope Florida.

The House has released several letters a subcommittee sent last week to dig deeper into the growing scandal at Hope Florida.

It sets the stage for when Rep. Alex Andrade, who chairs the Health Care Budget Subcommittee, will question officials starting Thursday.

“I am confident that you share our commitment to full transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds,” Andrade wrote in an April 18 letter to Jason Weida, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Chief of Staff.

In that letter, Andrade asked Weida for records, including emails and texts, related to the Hope Florida Foundation.

Andrade is also asking for the 1099 tax documents from the Hope Florida Foundation, the organization’s contracts, emails and other financial records.

Jeff Aaron, the Hope Florida attorney who also has political ties to DeSantis, told the media he can’t attend Thursday’s subcommittee hearing but would be available Friday.

“If they do not provide that information in a timely manner, we may be required to obtain that information with the use of subpoenas,” Andrade warned during an April 15 hearing.

The controversy at Hope Florida stems from $10 million Medicaid settlement the state ended up funneling to Hope Florida where millions eventually ended up going to a political committee controlled by DeSantis’ then-Chief of Staff James Uthmeier to help defeat last year’s marijuana ballot measure. Uthmeier has since been appointed Attorney General.

Hope Florida was started by First Lady Casey DeSantis to get people off welfare and connect those in need with religious organizations and public and private resources.

The House’s investigation has revealed the organization has no employees and is missing tax documents to provide more oversight.

The spotlight was on Hope Florida because Casey DeSantis was mulling a Governor run and lawmakers were considering legislation this Session to codify Hope Florida in the Governor’s Office.

DeSantis has denied any wrongdoing and said during a recent TV interview the Foundation “acted totally appropriately” and that “people are doing this (probe of Hope Florida finances) … because they want to go after the First Lady, they want to try to demean the success of Hope Florida.”