Florida Appeals Court Declines to Block Campaign Ad Citing Hope Florida Grand Jury Report
Florida's First District Court of Appeal on October 25 rejected Attorney General James Uthmeier's request to stop television stations from airing a Democratic campaign ad. The ad cites a grand jury report concerning a $10 million transfer of funds connected to the Hope Florida foundation.
Uthmeier and the Republican Party of Florida had sought to block stations from running the ad, arguing its content was false; the court denied the injunction request, and stations may continue to air it. The state Republican Party also filed a separate suit seeking to ban the ad; a judge initially dismissed that request, and the party later withdrew the suit.
At the heart of the dispute is a grand jury report that said the DeSantis administration, through an arrangement, "diverted" $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to support political activity, and that the money was moved into a political action committee controlled by Uthmeier. These are the grand jury's investigative findings, not a criminal conviction.
Earlier this month, the appeals court ordered the report deleted, reasoning that it should not have been made public because it could harm people named in it who were never charged; the court also found that the $10 million was not public money. The transfer has become an issue in Uthmeier's campaign for attorney general and in U.S. Senator Ashley Moody's race — Moody was serving as state attorney general when the transfer was approved.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于塔拉哈西的佛罗里达州议会大厦（历史议会大厦与新议会大厦）。图片来源：Michael Rivera / Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。The Florida Capitol in Tallahassee (the historic capitol and the new capitol tower). Photo: Michael Rivera / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
