James Uthmeier is at the center of a grand jury report that found $10 million in taxpayer money intended for the Hope Florida Foundation was misappropriated into dark money political action committees. The report, reported on by CBS News Miami on September 3, 2026, leaves a central accountability gap: who ordered the transfer and why no criminal charge followed.
Jack Campbell and Leon County
Jack Campbell, the state attorney in Leon County, led the grand jury after Republican state representative Alex Andrade forwarded findings from a pair of state House hearings last year. Those hearings first uncovered the $10 million diversion into the Hope Florida Foundation, according to the report.
The grand jury found the money was meant to help poor sick children, then routed into a pair of dark money political action committees. It said it could not bring criminal charges because nobody took responsibility for what it described as a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities.
Dave Aronberg on charges
Dave Aronberg said the report suggested crimes had occurred. He said, “Oh, yeah” when asked whether crimes had occurred based on his reading of the report, and added, “For those who ordered the transfer of taxpayer funds to this organization, they could face first-degree felonies of grand theft and official misconduct. Those are serious crimes.”
Aronberg also said, “Jack Campbell's a good guy, and he takes his job seriously.”
Sam Rabin and Bruce Udolf
Sam Rabin said in an interview with CBS News Miami, “I have to tell you honestly, I read this report again last night; it's really outrageous.” He also said, “I mean, this is nothing more than a 'sweep this whole thing under the rug.' This was not a serious effort to get to the bottom of this.”
Rabin added, “This grand jury concluded that the money was stolen.” Bruce Udolf said, “Any prosecutor, worth their salt, would not walk away from this case with just a grand jury recommendation that we have insufficient evidence to proceed,” and, “The only excuse for saying we have insufficient evidence is to do a thorough investigation. And this, sad to say, this investigation was not thorough by any means.”
The report noted that key witnesses said they were unable to remember what happened and who was responsible. Campbell did not respond to a request for comment, leaving the report's core question unanswered: who specifically ordered the transfer of taxpayer funds remains unresolved in the source.
