Grand Jury examines Hope Florida Foundation

Grand Jury proceedings are under way in Leon county in connection with the investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation and a $10 million settlement between a Medicaid provider and the state over alleged overpayments. The Hope Florida Foundation is intended to raise money for a charity led by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, which is under investigation for steering money to nonprofits that then gave money to a political action committee headed by Attorney General James Uthmeier, then Gov. DeSantis' Chief of Staff, who used the money to oppose adult-use marijuana and abortion ballot questions. Alexandra Glorioso, State Government Reporter with the Miami Herald and Lawrence Mower, Tallahassee Correspondent with the Tampa Bay Times join FOX 35's Garrett Wymer live via Zoom to break down their reporting of the Hope Florida probe and the status of the grand jury proceedings.

State Attorney Worrell escalates feud with AG Uthmeier

Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell, covering Orange and Osceola Counties, continues to strike back at Governor Ron DeSantis' threats and attacks against her office, including allegations of being soft on crime for refusing to prosecute certain cases or pursue higher charges on specific cases. Worrell claims DeSantis is lying to give pretext to remove her from office again, repeating his actions from 2023. Worrell was later re-elected to her position as state attorney in 2024. Aubrey Jewett, UCF Political Science Professor joins FOX 35's Garrett Wymer to break down the political implications of the feud between Worrell and the state government, including the allegations by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier of Worrell's office having a massive backlog of cases and calling her out for alleged poor handling of cases involving fentanyl, sex crimes and stand your ground.