Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) criticized Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s (R) efforts during his tenure as Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) chief of staff to stop a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state.
In a post on social platform X, Gaetz referenced a column by retired Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson on the political news outlet Florida Politics, in which Lawson argues Uthmeier did not partake in any wrongdoing in using funds from a settlement between Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid managed care provider, and the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
At question is a $10 million payment to the Hope Florida Foundation, which is tied to first lady Casey DeSantis’s welfare assistance program Hope Florida, as a part of the settlement. After receiving the funds, the foundation then made grants to the nonprofits Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society from Drugs. Those groups received the grant money while they were making donations to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee headed by Uthmeier. Keep Florida Clean was involved in the fight against Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state.
Lawson argued in the column that nothing about Uthmeier’s actions or conduct during the campaign against Amendment 3 was “illegal or even scandalous.”
“Hope Florida’s Board made its own decisions about awarding grants. And the grantees also had their own boards and rules that governed their decisions,” Lawson wrote in the column.
“Uthmeier did not direct or ask for those donations. But I am sure that Uthmeier and all those opposed to Amendment 3 were very glad those donations were made,” the former state Supreme Court justice argued.
Gaetz said in his post Thursday that Lawson’s essay is “a shocking admission.”
“The core argument Lawson is making is that we are LUCKY the now-Attorney General used his power as then-chief-of-staff to syphon money away from Florida’s medicaid program to fund political ads against a marijuana amendment,” Gaetz said in his post, adding that he publicly opposed the amendment.
“They aren’t saying: ‘James didn’t organize a scheme to launder $10 million from a managed care provider to his PAC to fund ant-weed ads.’ Instead they’re saying: ‘It’s a good thing he did!’” he continued.
Gaetz concluded that the Florida state House of Representatives could move to impeach Uthmeier.
The comments come amid a widening probe into the Hope Florida Foundation’s receipt of $10 million as a result of the settlement. On Tuesday, the foundation’s chair said under oath during a state House Health Care Budget Subcommittee that “mistakes were made” with the foundation’s record keeping.
Florida lawmakers, including state House Republicans have floated subpoenaing top DeSantis officials including Uthmeier as apart of the probe.
DeSantis has accused state House Republicans of working with Democrats and the news media to attack Hope Florida.
“To have Republicans in the Florida House leadership colluding with these people, when they’re doing that and they’re not cutting your property taxes, they’re not fixing the condo crisis, they’re not doing the things that voters want them to do, make no mistake about that,” DeSantis said this week. “They are stabbing you in the back. They are refusing to do their jobs.”
