Eleven days before the election, Republican Sen. Ashley Moody joined President Trump at a rally on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus in Fort Myers. She spent her time on the stage attacking her Democratic opponent, Angie Nixon 2. She did not bring up the issue Nixon has been raising for weeks: the $10 million Medicaid settlement payment known as the Hope Florida affair 12.
When Moody does talk about it, she points away from her old office. In an Oct. 13 radio interview she called the questions political and said they belong with the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, or AHCA, which runs Florida's Medicaid program 1. Medicaid is the public health coverage program for low-income Floridians.
So I think any questions regarding that settlement needs to be directed to that agency, AHCA
Then: what happened in 2024
Centene Corp. is Florida's largest Medicaid contractor. In September 2024, AHCA signed a $67 million settlement with the company over prescription drug overbilling 1. The deal set aside $10 million for the Hope Florida Foundation, the fundraising arm of First Lady Casey DeSantis's welfare initiative 1. Emails show Centene first offered $67 million with no Hope Florida piece. After a briefing at the governor's office, the state asked Centene to redirect $5 million, then raised it to $10 million 1.
The foundation split the $10 million between two nonprofits, Secure Florida's Future and Save Our Society From Drugs 3. Those groups then sent $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee staffed by James Uthmeier, who was then Gov. Ron DeSantis's chief of staff 3. The committee fought two 2024 ballot measures, on abortion rights and recreational marijuana. Both fell short of the 60% they needed to pass 3.
From Channel GOPAngie Nixon says Ashley Moody belongs in jailAngie Nixon · 130 plays · captioned, with the source named
Moody was attorney general at the time, and her office approved the settlement 1. Records show that her chief deputy, John Guard, tried to take references to the attorney general out of the deal while it was being drafted. He then signed it and said Moody had approved it 1.
What the grand jury said about Moody
A Leon County grand jury report leaked in August found that Moody knew about the plan to send $10 million to Hope Florida and authorized Guard to sign the agreement 4. According to the report, Guard had reservations. He agreed the money belonged to the state and worried lawmakers would see the transfer as going around their power over state spending 4. The agreement was then rewritten to show that AHCA, not the attorney general's office, was directing Centene to send the money 4.
The report does not establish that Moody knew the money would later reach political committees 4. The grand jury charged no one. It said witnesses could not remember who proposed the transfer 1. In August, Moody said her office was one of several agencies that signed the deal and had no knowledge of how the foundation would spend the money 3. Uthmeier, now attorney general, has called the matter a hoax and says nobody did anything wrong 3.
That matters because her line about AHCA leaves something out. The deal was reworded to put AHCA's name on the money after her own deputy raised concerns, and the grand jury found she authorized him to sign 4. One expert told PolitiFact that Centene wanted the attorney general involved, and that if Moody had objected, "the deal would not have happened" 1.
Now: a court ruling, and a Republican who isn't done
On Oct. 7, Florida's First District Court of Appeal ordered the grand jury report expunged, meaning erased from the record. It ruled that the grand jury went beyond its authority and that the $10 million was never public money 1. The opinion's author, Judge Lance Neff, was appointed by DeSantis on March 2, 2026 5. Moody's campaign said the ruling spoke for itself 1.
All the narratives crashed and burned with this opinion.
But the ruling leaves a fact unexplained. State officials paid the federal government back its share of the $10 million, which is how Florida handles public Medicaid money 1. The administration said it did so out of an "abundance of caution" 5. Separately, the IRS is reviewing a whistleblower claim filed by Republican state Rep. Alex Andrade, and State Attorney Monique Worrell is looking at whether any crimes were committed 5.
Florida's other senator, Republican Rick Scott, has called for a "thorough investigation" 5.
This was $10 million that was supposed to go for poor kids
Nixon's charge, and where it stands
Nixon has made Hope Florida central to her campaign and has called for an investigation 1.
She actually stole $10 million from sick kids and used that money to divert it to two political PACS.
To be clear, "stole" is Nixon's word, not a grand jury finding, and no one has been criminally charged 61. PolitiFact found that the available documents do not clearly show how deeply Moody was involved 1. The Republican Party of Florida has sued the state Democratic Party and several candidates over TV ads describing the grand jury report 1.
The pattern is that Moody's story keeps changing. As attorney general, she approved the deal 1. In August she said her office had no knowledge of how the money would be spent 3. Now she sends voters' questions to AHCA 1. Voters can weigh that record when they decide the Senate race on Nov. 3 3.
The Record
- DeSantis appoints Lance Neff to the appeals court; Neff later writes the opinion that wipes out the Hope Florida grand jury report 5
- Reports on the leaked grand jury findings say Moody knew of the $10 million plan and authorized her deputy to sign; Moody says her office had no knowledge of how the money would be spent 34
- Florida's First District Court of Appeal orders the grand jury report expunged, ruling the money was never public money 1
- Moody says in a radio interview that questions about the settlement should go to AHCA 1
- Moody rallies with Trump in Fort Myers and attacks Nixon; the Hope Florida affair goes unmentioned 2
Sources
- PolitiFact, “Angie Nixon keeps hammering on Hope Florida. What happened? What was Ashley Moody's involvement?” (2026-10-22). politifact.com/article/2026/oct/22/hope-florida-angie-nixon-
- PolitiFact, “Fact-checking Trump, Donalds and Moody as they rally voters in Fort Myers, Florida” (2026-10-23). politifact.com/article/2026/oct/23/florida-rally-trump-donal
- News Service of Florida via CBS12, “Democrats seek resignations, investigation; DeSantis calls Hope Florida report a hoax” (2026-08-27). cbs12.com/news/local/democrats-seek-resignations-investigati
- CBS12, “Report finds $10M Medicaid settlement funds misused through Hope Florida” (2026-08-27). cbs12.com/news/local/grand-jury-report-10-milllion-medical-s
- WUSF via WLRN, “Latest on Hope Florida: Why the controversy is not over” (2026-10-14). wlrn.org/government-politics/2026-10-14/latest-on-hope-flori
- CBS News Miami, “Angie Nixon responds after JD Vance says she doesn't belong in America” (2026-10-04). cbsnews.com/miami/news/angie-nixon-jd-vance-ashley-moody-flo
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
