DeSantis and Wife Under Scrutiny for $10 Million Donation

Florida’s popular Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis have crash-landed into a $10 million probe that is quickly spiraling into a scandal ahead of the next gubernatorial race, for which Mrs. DeSantis is rumored to have plans. The probe is not a political push by liberals to attack DeSantis but comes from Florida’s own conservative-majority State House.

As reported in Orlando Weekly (April 11), the issue goes back to a settlement agreement in September 2024 between the State of Florida – i.e., the DeSantis administration – and healthcare giant Centene. As part of the settlement, Centene was to pay $67 million to the state but only paid $57 million. The remaining $10 million was donated to Hope Florida, a charity founded by Casey DeSantis in 2021.

This donation was supposedly part of the settlement between the DeSantis administration and Centene but wasn’t disclosed as required by state law. Thus, it appears illegal and has raised questions about the transparency of the DeSantis administration as well as the roles of the Governor and the First Lady in potentially benefitting from it.

Firebrand conservative and former congressman from FL Matt Gaetz, who now hosts a talk show on One America News (OAN), highlighted this issue by summarizing what’s wrong and why it matters. Gaetz was joined by Alex Andrade, member of Florida House, who questioned state official Shevaun Harris about the $10 million donation to Hope Florida during a recent hearing.

Gaetz suggested the bank records of Hope Florida be reviewed to see how the $10 million was ultimately spent while showing documents that suggested some of it may have been spent on political ads.

Gaetz’s discussion about the potential violation of law and seeming lack of transparency were met with shock among some fans of DeSantis and disbelief among others. Comments from conservatives supporting DeSantis expressed doubt over DeSantis intentionally trying to funnel money to his wife’s charity or campaign. Some even called out Gaetz for taking on DeSantis and questioned the motives of those highlighting this issue.

Then there were others who expressed disapproval of the Governor and wrote that they won’t vote for him in 2028 if he runs for the Oval Office.

Popular Florida-based conservative commentator Laura Loomer, who has been critical of Ron DeSantis for a while, wrote on her X page that she has also been trying to get FL lawmakers to investigate Governor Desantis’ Florida Freedom Fund, which Loomer alleges has been raising money for Casey Desantis’ gubernatorial campaign.

“Ron and Casey are not transparent about money,” Loomer added.

The latest rating polls by Florida Politics show that the approval rating of DeSantis (54%) has remained essentially unchanged since the end of last year, when it was 53%. After he decided to primary President Trump for the 2024 presidential election, DeSantis lost favor with many die-hard Trump supporters. Given his consistent and passionate defense of conservative causes, his popularity in Florida remains high. But whether he runs for the White House in 2028 and is able to take the lead as the Republican nominee is not very clear