The Florida Democratic Party just released a new ad targeting the Florida Republican Party's Hope Florida scandal just a few days after a Highlands County circuit court judge denied the GOP's request to pull prior Democratic ads highlighting the scandal off the air.
That same court denied Attorney General James Uthmeier's request to ban publication of the grand jury's report finding him liable for wrongdoing in relation to the scandal.
The Florida Democratic Party accused Republicans of trying to bury the scandal.
“Twice in five days, Florida Republicans asked a judge to make the truth about Hope Florida disappear, and twice the answer was no,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a press release Tuesday. “As an attorney, I can tell you that people with a strong case don’t file at 11:36 p.m. on a Friday evening two weeks before an election asking a court to threaten TV stations with criminal prosecution. They do that when they’re scared of what voters are about to hear. Floridians deserve sunlight. Our ads are staying on the air, and we will keep telling voters exactly what happened.”
The newest ad, released Wednesday, is titled "It Was Your Money" and features a flowchart showing how Uthmeier directed $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation, with the help of Senator Ashley Moody, who was attorney general at the time.
“Florida Republicans have tried everything to keep voters from hearing about Hope Florida, from late-night lawsuits to threatening TV stations with prosecution. It hasn’t worked, and it won’t,” Fried said in a Wednesday press release. “James Uthmeier and Ashley Moody took $10 million meant for sick kids and turned it into a political slush fund. We’re going to make sure every Floridian knows it before they cast a ballot.”
