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After a bombshell appellate court order called for the Hope Florida grand jury report to be expunged, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a victory lap on Thursday morning — though he called out CBS News Miami in particular.
More specifically, DeSantis spoke on the court decision during a news conference in Miami, claiming that it found:
No “misappropriation”
No tax dollars were used at all
No Medicaid money was involved with the Hope Florida donation
The 1st DCA eviscerated the phony narratives re: AHCA’s pre-suit settlement and the private donation to DCF’s direct support organization, the Hope foundation:
1. No “misappropriation”
2. No tax dollars were used at all
3. No Medicaid money was involved with the donation
BUT, the leaking of the grand jury report was a crime that did irreparable harm to innocent people. This was adult supervision by the Court — and yet another example of politically-contrived narratives falling apart under proper scrutiny.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 8, 2026
Much of the conference was spent discussing the details of the court order and lambasting the grand jury report, which asserted that $10 million in taxpayer funds had been “misappropriated” to the Hope Florida Foundation.
However, DeSantis also took aim at CBS News Miami, which publicly released the details of the leaked report.
[PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Taxpayer dollars ‘misappropriated’ to Hope Florida, grand jury finds]
“Do you want us to send you a copy of this opinion so they will read it and see the results, and how that conflicts with some of the narratives that they’ve been spewing?” DeSantis asked during the conference. “I think you have a responsibility to correct the record.”
On Thursday, though, CBS Miami issued an article about the decision to expunge the Hope Florida grand jury report.
WHAT IS THE HOPE FLORIDA CASE?
The money came from a settlement of over $67 million with Centene, a health care company accused of overbilling Florida’s children’s health insurance program.
Instead of returning the full amount to the state, the final agreement sent $57 million to the state and $10 million to Hope Florida — a state initiative led by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis that aims to connect people in need with resources like charities.
However, the grand jury said the money was later moved through several organizations and ended up with two political action committees and the Republican Party of Florida.
The funds were used to oppose Amendment 3, a 2024 ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana. The measure ultimately failed to garner enough approval from voters that year.
The report named several figures in particular in the case, such as Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and then-Attorney General Ashley Moody. However, the grand jury said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone criminally.
NEW COURT ORDER
On Wednesday, an appellate court handed down an order to expunge the grand jury report, with several criticisms of the grand jury’s initial presentation.
In Wednesday’s order, the court provided several key points to justify its decision:
Unsupported legal conclusions: The grand jury claimed the $10 million was “misappropriated,” but the cited statutes applied to court settlements or money paid to the state; this settlement preceded any lawsuit, and the money went to Hope Florida instead.
Condemnation without indictment: The grand jury report portrayed several people and private groups as part of a “sophisticated scheme,” even though it found there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone.
Inconsistencies and errors: The order says that the grand jury report suffered from “internally inconsistent findings.” For example, the report claimed that $800,000 of taxpayer funds was not recovered by the state, though other records show the state actually recovered $800,000 more than the full figure.
Grand jury overrearch: While a grand jury can investigate executive offices and report on wrongdoing, the grand jury in this case went a step too far by drawing conclusions of “misappropriation” undertaken in a “sophisticated scheme” — an authoritative judgment of wrongdoing regarding conduct that wasn’t actually illegal.
The court order also said that the illegal press leak of the grand jury report “caused irreparable harm,” meaning that full expungement is the only remaining meaningful remedy.
“The grand jury’s institutional voice could have been heard had it properly reported on whether public officers were ‘conducted according to law and good morals’… or merely recommended that the Legislature address the statutory gap it identified,” the order reads. “…The grand jury took none of those proper paths. Instead, it exceeded its authority by accusing people of criminal conduct without indicting them.”
