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Jury Finds DeSantis Admin Diverted $10M Marked for Poor Children to GOP Coffers

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27.08.2026

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A Florida grand jury has found that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration misappropriated millions of dollars in taxpayer funds that were marked to help children get health insurance but instead went to right-wing political groups and the state Republican Party.

The grand jury found that state officials funneled $10 million in funding from a Medicaid-related settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, a faith-based organization which was supposed to use the funding to help poor children with health coverage, according to reporting by CBS Miami.

But the charity, founded by DeSantis’s wife, quickly funnelled half of the money to the right-wing group Secure Florida’s Future, and the other half to Save Our Society From Drugs in 2024. The funding was ultimately used to help defeat a citizen’s ballot measure, Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

The grand jury concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally because “nobody will take responsibility” for the decision to send the money to Hope Florida or “had any memory of who made it.”

The money originated from a multi-state settlement with........

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