A.G. Gancarski
Hope Florida’s lawyer won’t attend Friday’s scheduled meeting of the Health Care Budget Subcommittee after all.
In a letter to Chair Alex Andrade, Orlando lawyer Jeff Aaron says he is “very disappointed” that he must decline his voluntary appearance.
Aaron says he has “been informed that some board members have decided not to waive their attorney-client privilege.”
Andrade has spent the last few weeks trying to understand how $10 million from a Medicaid settlement reached with the state of Florida ended up in political committees for messaging against constitutional amendments last year. He balked at Aaron’s message.
“Jeff Aaron was implicated in defrauding his client, the Hope Florida Foundation. It’s dishonest of him to now claim he has obligations to his client, especially when the public records act makes clear that, other than circumstances that do not apply here, he does not have the legal right to assert attorney-client privilege without identifying the impending litigation or active litigation justifying the privilege,” Andrade told Florida Politics Wednesday evening.
Aaron previously told the media that he couldn’t attend Thursday’s subcommittee hearing but would be available on Friday, which led Andrade to schedule the second meeting of the week. However, Aaron’s reversal frustrated Andrade.
Andrade has requested the Governor’s Office to provide 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.
The attorney’s refusal to attend comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier mount a legalistic defense of the use of what seemed to be public money for a political campaign, regarding $10 million directed to the Hope Florida Foundation in a Medicaid settlement.
DeSantis has called that funding pot a “cherry on top” of the overall settlement payment, while Uthmeier (whose Friends of James Uthmeier political committee is chaired by Aaron) dubbed it a “sweetener” for the larger deal.
“The agency puts out a document. It goes through the different agreement. The agreement they reached with the company was for about $56 million to recoup for this PBM Medicaid thing. It’s there, it’s documented. And then they got a $10 million private donation on top of that, which is what the agency said from the beginning. And so this is an attempt to try to manufacture a narrative where there’s really nothing there,” DeSantis said Wednesday.
“I think the media misunderstands the difference between issue committees and political candidate committees under the IRS code,” Uthmeier said. “An issue committee can fight against a ballot initiative and I’m very thankful those groups stepped up and helped us secure a big win.”
Uthmeier ran the issue committee that helped deploy settlement funds routed through external political committees.
Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) General Counsel Andrew Sheeran wrote lawmakers, including Senate President Ben Albritton, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Andrade, to say the deal is aboveboard.
Sheeran differentiated between the $57.8 million in “potential Medicaid-related damages to the state” and the sum that went to the Hope Florida Foundation as a direct support organization (DSO). That money reportedly ended up being used to enrich political consultants and help program message advertising, a move Sheeran framed as “neither illegal nor illicit.”
“The remaining $10,800,000 component of the offer was not to compensate the State for loss of Medicaid funds, but rather ‘to provide reimbursement … for any other potentially alleged damages (contractual or otherwise) as a result of the alleged covered conduct and to otherwise incent (the State) to pursue settlement on these terms without doing formalized claims audits that would cause further delay and cost to the parties.’ The $10,000,000 donated to the DSO was therefore not Medicaid funds,” the lawyer wrote.
12 comments
Michael K
April 23, 2025 at 10:37 pm
Sunshine is the disinfectant’. This is why we need a free press. Something is very rotten here.
EARL PITTS "legislative expert Emertias" AMERICAN
April 24, 2025 at 6:27 am
Good Morn ‘Ting Sage Patriots,
Relax Your Political Sphincters” as this entire Hope Florida Foundation “Dust-Up” is nothing more than the Dook 4 Brains RINOS & LEFTISTS in The Florida Senate and House Lamely trying to “Cast Shade” on “America’s Govornor” The Sage Ron and his Lovely Wife Casey.
This $hit Show will soon be exposed for the lies it is and fall by the wayside as just another Florida House & Senate Dook 4 Brains RINO & LEFTY political fantisy.
IN CLOSING:
Florida is lucky to have a “legislative expert Emertias” such as myself, EARL PITTS “legislative expert Emertias” , here “On The Job 24/7” looking out for “The Citizens of the Great Free State of Florida”.
Thank you Sage Patriots, and never forget:
“ITS NOT NEWS UNTIL EARL WEIGHS IN”,
EARL PITTS “legislative expert Emertias” AMERICAN. Once again you may, one and alll, Relax Your Sphincters, Earl
People Everywhere
April 24, 2025 at 6:32 am
Thanks for clearing up why they are beating this Hope Florida non-issue to death Earl. We are relaxing.
People Everywhere
JD
April 24, 2025 at 7:02 am
JD “Corruption Sniffing Connoisseur” AMERICAN
April 24, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Good Mornin’ Gaslit Goobers and Gravy-Soaked Grifters,
Please kindly Clench Your Critical Thinking Muscles because this Hope Florida scandal isn’t some “dust-up.” It’s a full-blown Grift-A-Palooza starring “America’s Grifter-in-Chief” Ronny D and “The Lovely Beneficiary” Casey.
This isn’t shade, Shitts. It’s sunlight. The kind that disinfects when you follow the money trail straight from public coffers into the pockets of politically connected pals dressed up as “charity.”
Now we’ve got witnesses ducking subpoenas and hiding behind “attorney-client privilege” like it’s a Costco-sized pack of legal Tums. That’s not confidence. That’s damage control.
But sure, keep swinging your self-declared Legislative Expert Emertias title around like it means something outside your recliner. The rest of us are busy reading the financial reports and watching the walls close in.
IN CLOSING:
This isn’t RINO fiction or lefty panic. It’s just plain old corruption. And for once, it’s getting daylight.
Hope Florida is rotting from the inside and the stink is finally making the morning news.
You may now resume Contracting Your Sphincters, America.
JD “Weighs In With Facts” AMERICAN
ScienceBLVR
April 24, 2025 at 8:16 am
Thanks, JD, for so eloquently stating why those of us dedicated to exposing the grift and odorous stench oozing from the Hope Florida/Hope Florida Foundation will not let up until the corruption is laid bare for all to see…
JD
April 24, 2025 at 9:32 am
Thank you. I’ll give Shitts credit, he’s the inspiration for the parody (legal parody, Shitts. Like that goad?).
While the grift seems pretty obvious here, especially if they’re circling the wagons, I’m skeptical this will gain enough political traction to result in any real accountability. More likely, it just further tarnishes what’s left of DeSantis’ political career or his wife’s. I’m sure he’ll still have a grand, lucrative time as a lobbyist.
I’d almost go as far as to say this is being orchestrated by another grifter: Donalds. Ask Byron his stance on vouchers and charter schools, considering his wife owns a bunch of them.
PeterH
April 24, 2025 at 10:09 am
The DeSantis coverup!
It’s starting to smell pretty bad…
April 24, 2025 at 10:10 am
Stonewalling is resorted to when wrongdoing needs covering up. Exactly who on the board refused to waive attorney-client privilege (which isn’t necessarily available when a crime has been committed)?
MH/Duuuval
April 24, 2025 at 10:18 am
Like a fish, Dee’s team is rotting from the head downward.
Since Mr. Aaron refused to voluntarily appear, can he be compelled? If so, Mr. Andrade, please make it so.
Irving Schwartz
April 24, 2025 at 12:48 pm
Either an enterprising reporter, or maybe a complaint filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics or the Florida Bar, would likely expose journeyman lawyer Aaron to some questionable ethical violations. Such as a glaring conflict of interest in his role as a former employee of law firm Gray Robinson with his role as a paid Commissioner of the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission. How much time does is actually spend for this position that requires half time employment? There is much more here than meets the eye.
MH/Duuuval
April 27, 2025 at 10:41 am
Would you go ahead and make your case before the Ethics panel. Won’t make the first cut, probably, but Aaron will know you are on the case.
MH/Duuuval
April 25, 2025 at 9:52 am
No one need hold their breath until the MAGA feds get involved.
Maybe in 2026, or 2028? What’s the statute of limitations here?
Comments are closed.