A Florida grand jury has concluded that the Ron DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money that was supposed to provide health insurance for poor children, funneling it instead into a political campaign.

According to a sealed grand jury report obtained by CBS News Miami, the money came from a $67 million settlement after health care company Centene was accused of overbilling Florida's Healthy Kids program, the state's children's health insurance program.

Rather than returning the full amount to state coffers, officials rewrote the settlement in September 2024, ultimately steering $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity tied to First Lady Casey DeSantis' initiative. Within 25 days, the foundation gave the entire sum away in two $5 million grants, and the money quickly moved into Uthmeier's political action committee, Keep Florida Clean, before being funneled into the Republican Party of Florida and a second PAC, where it helped defeat a 2024 ballot measure to legalize marijuana.

The grand jury did not recommend criminal charges, saying it lacked sufficient evidence, but did not mince words about what it found. "Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally," the report concluded, adding, "Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida."

The report places Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis' chief of staff during the settlement, at the center of directing the funds, noting his political committee, Keep Florida Clean, was "the prime recipient of the majority" of the $10 million. It also found that then-Attorney General Ashley Moody, now a U.S. Senator, was aware of the diversion plan and authorized her chief deputy to sign off on the deal.

Should Florida lawmakers be required to pass the transparency law the grand jury recommended?