TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wouldn’t say Wednesday whether he’s asked a judge to keep secret a grand jury report into the Hope Florida scandal, instead asserting during a combative press conference in Miami that he was not a target in the investigation.

Asked whether he had petitioned a court to redact parts of a report detailing the grand jury’s findings, Uthmeier said he didn’t think anyone cared about the topic “more than the liberal media.”

“There was a grand jury proceeding under Florida law, the contents thereof are confidential. That’s not my choice, that is Florida law,” he said at a news conference about a renewed focus on investigating cold cases.

Grand jury reports, known as presentments, only remain secret if a person named in the report asks the court to redact portions that relate to them.

“What I can tell you is, I have not been indicted,” Uthmeier added. “I’ve not been a suspect or a target. I’ve not been involved in any criminal activity. Nobody did anything wrong here.”

A Tallahassee grand jury was convened last fall to investigate the DeSantis administration’s diversion of $10 million from a 2024 Medicaid settlement to help fund a fight against ballot initiatives that year. The Hope Florida Foundation, a state charity created for the first lady’s welfare initiative, was used to move most of the money to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier, who at the time was the governor’s chief of staff.

A report from the grand jury could shed light on any involvement by Uthmeier and other administration officials.

But the report, believed to have been issued earlier this year, has not been publicly released. Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell’s office has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of a presentment. In response to records requests, his office has cited a range of laws, including one about presentments remaining confidential while a court works out whether a request to repress them should be granted. Under state law, persons named in such a report can ask a judge to repress certain parts, or all, of it.

The process could take months — possibly keeping the report confidential until well after November, when Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general last year by DeSantis, is up for election for the first time.

During Wednesday’s news conference, a reporter followed up asking Uthmeier whether he opposed the report being released. Uthmeier dismissed the question, calling it “political nonsense” and cutting off the reporter.

“Shame on you,” he said.

It’s the second time in recent months Uthmeier has derided reporters in Miami questioning him about his behavior.

In February, Uthmeier criticized the media, shut down questioning and left the room after multiple reporters asked him about his $100,000 adjunct faculty salary at the University of Florida during a press conference on public corruption.

Uthmeier’s role in Hope Florida scandal

Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, accused Uthmeier and Hope Florida Foundation attorney Jeff Aaron of crimes last year after his House health care budget committee held hearings into the movement of the $10 million.

During the investigation, Andrade released text messages to the Herald/Times showing that three days before the Hope Florida Foundation accepted the $10 million in a meeting that had not been noticed to the public, Uthmeier texted asking to speak with Amy Ronshausen, the executive director of an anti-drug nonprofit that ultimately received half the money.

Ronshausen later told Andrade that Uthmeier asked her to request a $5 million grant from the foundation, Andrade said. The day after Ronshausen’s nonprofit received the money, it began transferring $4.75 million to Uthmeier’s political committee. Ronshausen said that Uthmeier did not tell her what to do with the money but has not disputed that Uthmeier told her to apply for it.

The other $5 million was given to a nonprofit controlled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which gave $3.75 million of it to Uthmeier’s committee.

Ronshausen was seen leaving the Leon County Courthouse the same day the Hope Florida grand jury was convening.

Andrade referred his findings last year to the state attorney’s office in Leon County and the FBI.

The $10 million was part of a $67 million state settlement with the Medicaid contractor Centene over allegations of overbilling for prescription drugs. Although DeSantis and state officials initially called the money a charitable contribution from Centene separate from what the company owed, the state ultimately treated all of it as taxpayer dollars, refunding the federal government its share of the money according to federal rules.

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Miami Herald reporter Milena Malaver and Tampa Bay Times reporter Justin Garcia contributed to this report.

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