Miami HeraldBy Alexandra Glorioso and Lawrence MoweApril 22, 2025The $10 million that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted to a state-created charity last year consisted of Medicaid dollars owed to state and federal taxpayers, contrary to what the governor and other officials have publicly asserted. Three years ago, lawyers working with the state drew up a settlement agreement that said Florida’s largest Medicaid contractor, Centene, overbilled taxpayers $67,048,611 for medications, according to a copy of a draft agreement obtained by the Herald/Times.That’s the exact amount DeSantis officials settled on with Centene last year. But instead of returning all $67 million to state and federal coffers, they sent $10 million of it to the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity overseen by first lady Casey DeSantis.The money was then sent to two nonprofit organizations that aren’t required to report how they spend their funds. Those “dark money” groups later gave $8.5 million to a political committee overseen by DeSantis’ chief of staff in a series of transactions that some Republican lawmakers believe was illegal. How Medicaid is allocated, which pays for healthcare services for the poor, is highly regulated.
The Republicans are always blaming the Democrats of "Dark Money" the only ones that seems to be doing that are the Republicans! Is this the reincarnation of "Boss" Tweed"
And they respond in typical Republican fashion, go after the messenger!
DeSantis has primarily responded to the accusations by lashing out at reporters and lawmakers who have questioned aspects of the Hope Florida initiative, which is intended to move Floridians off of government services.
Like all the other Republicans, Just look at Signalgate. The Republicans are going after the person who leaked it to the press, not to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who broke the law.
April 23, 2025Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is facing growing backlash over allegations involving an organization linked to his wife’s signature welfare assistance program Hope Florida.[...]DeSantis has denied the allegations. But on Tuesday, Florida media obtained a draft of an agreement that seemed to contradict the governor, a development that threatens to raise pressure on DeSantis and comes as the Florida governor and his wife mull their next political steps in the coming years.“It’s certainly not good for the first family,” said one Florida Republican operative. “I think it has a greater impact on her ability to run for governor more than anything else.”
The question is will the voters still vote for the governor's wife? Will it be "But he's our crook." and still vote Republican?
The controversy surrounding the Hope Florida Foundation goes back to last year, when the state of Florida discovered they were owed $67 million in a settlement with the Centene Corporation after the state was overbilled for Medicaid. The draft agreement obtained by media on Tuesday suggested that $10 million of that money was funneled to two nonprofit groups involved in the campaign against the ballot measure. One of those groups gave money to a PAC tied to DeSantis’s then-chief of staff James Uthmeier.That seemed to contradict the DeSantis administration’s insistence that the $10 million given to the nonprofit groups was separate from the money received as part of the settlement.
So the big question will this break the Republican hold in Florida?
My guest is that they will still elect Republicans basically giving a green light for corruption, they can do anything as long as it is they are against the Democrats!
Then we have this Trump's little two step... You want to cut the tariffs? Why allow Trump & Musk to...
The Wall Street Journal reports that Vietnam is rushing approval of a new Trump resort and buying Starlink as part of a plan to stave off Trump's tariffs.Negotiating new trade deals takes time, and just buying some more US-made goods, while kissing Trump's posterior, is a lot easier."Vietnam, which has a surplus of more than $120 billion with the U.S. and saw tariffs on its goods rise to 46% on Liberation Day, shows how anxious countries are to stave off the duties," the Journal reported. "It recently closed a $300 million financing deal to buy a fleet of new Boeing jets. It pushed through the authorization of Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, a close Trump adviser. And it accelerated the approvals for a $1.5 billion Trump resort."
Quid pro quo?
You might remember back in his first term when Trump was negotiating trade deals with China, Ivanka Trump... received thirteen new trademarks in China!
You might also remember when Trump's sent his son-in-law to Saudi Arabia on government business and came back with a side deal.
Donald Trump's son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner has defended his business dealings with Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.BBC News, WashingtonBy Bernd Debusmann Jr14 February 2024After leaving the White House, Mr Kushner's private equity firm received a $2bn (£1.59bn) investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.Mr Kushner worked closely with Saudi Arabia on a number of issues during the Trump administration.He has denied that the investment represented a conflict of interest.Prince Mohammed has been credited with overseeing sweeping economic and social reforms in the kingdom. He has also been accused of clamping down on dissent, and US intelligence has said it believes he ordered the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the prince denies.The Saudi investment into Mr Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, took place after he left the White House. But experts have previously raised ethical questions about the deal, citing his earlier dealings with Saudi Arabia and the former president's veto of bills that would have banned weapons sales to the kingdom during its war in Yemen.
Do you see a pattern here?
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