The moment Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ wife was named as a possible successor, the attacks started to fly.
Fraud allegations were made against a charitable foundation in which his wife was involved, resulting in local and federal investigations.
All investigations are now over, and Governor DeSantis touted the “witch hunt” finally being over.
I do not think it was a coincidence that the allegations arose after Casey DeSantis ventured into the political scene, or rather, her name was mentioned.
According to the filing, the Hope Florida Foundation, founded by Casey DeSantis, received a significant portion of a settlement that was reached between the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and the Centene Corporation.
That money was then diverted to several PACs that had ties to Ron DeSantis.
The chairman of Hope Florida admitted that he made some bookkeeping mistakes, and the Florida legislature opened an investigation. Eventually, a criminal investigation was launched.
In March 2025, the state probe was ended, but there were still a lot of questions being asked about what happened here.
Governor DeSantis has always maintained that this entire scandal and the claims within were manufactured to hurt his wife politically.
He stated, “It was all political. People smear what they fear. If Hope Florida represents a threat to their world view, they’re going to go after it.”
State Rep. Alex Andrade (R), chair of the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee and a critic of the governor, stated, “I think the best avenue is probably a federal investigation because again, these were Medicaid dollars. AHCA that steered that $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation treated the other $57 million that they did actually receive, they treated that like Medicaid money.”
It was Trump’s DOJ that was responsible for the federal investigation, and that too is now reportedly closed (the administration has not formally confirmed this).
Ron DeSantis then stated, "The witch hunt against the Hope Florida Foundation was orchestrated by left-wing media and their RINO allies. As we’ve said from day one, all agency actions were appropriate and legally sound.
"The Hope Florida initiative continues to be the most successful conservative anti-poverty initiative of any state in the country."
Casey DeSantis still has not declared for the race, with the favorite at this time being Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who has already been endorsed by Trump. In early polling, both Donalds and Casey DeSantis would be considered the favorites against any current possible Democrat nominee.
