ORLANDO, Fla. – During a news conference held by Florida’s top prosecutor, the focus shifted from legal action against Snapchat to the Hope Florida scrutiny.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier held a news conference on Tuesday to talk about the legal action brought by his office against Snapchat.
Uthmeier opened it up for questions, and the focus changed when people began asking about the recent Hope Florida controversy.
Over the last week or so, Uthmeier’s involvement in the entire ordeal has come under the microscope.
According to reports, the Hope Florida Foundation received $10 million as part of a $67 million legal settlement with Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid Managed-Care Company.
After getting the money, the foundation gave $5 million in grants to Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society From Drugs.
Those groups then reportedly gave money to ‘Keep Florida Clean,’ which fought November’s proposed amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana. At the time, Uthmeier was heading up that committee.
Uthmeier maintained that he has not been subpoenaed and said his office is ready to comply with records requests.
“We’ve got an obligation to provide records, so we’ll be providing records,” Uthmeier said. “At this point - you know I know the media says I have been subpoenaed to do things. Nobody has sent me a subpoena, I have not been asked to go anywhere, but you know, I feel good about what we did. At the end of the day, there were non-profits, C3 and C4 entities can absolutely support issues committees. I think the media misunderstands the difference between issue committees and political candidate committees. Under the IRS code, an issue can make a committee fight against a ballot initiative. And I’m very thankful those groups stepped up and helped us secure a big win.”
At last check, News 6 did not see any additional hearings on the books for the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee this week. If we see an update, we’ll post it here.
News 6 has also put in a request for Uthmeier’s complaint against Snapchat with the Santa Rosa County Clerk of Courts.
