Florida Appeals Court Orders Erasure of $10 Million DeSantis Grand Jury Report
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 8
Florida Appeals Court Orders Erasure of $10 Million DeSantis Grand Jury Report
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 8
Summary
A Florida appeals panel unanimously ordered the full expungement of a grand jury report that said Ron DeSantis’s administration misappropriated $10 million by routing taxpayer money to a charity tied to first lady Casey DeSantis.
Judge Lance Neff wrote that the grand jury exceeded its authority by accusing people of a “sophisticated scheme” without issuing indictments, and said the report wrongly impugned private individuals involved in later transfers to political committees.
The court called the report “careless in its grammar, mistaken in its law, and unfaithful to its own record,” wiping from the books a document that had never been officially released.
That report was leaked to a Miami television station and published in August, fueling a scandal Democrats cited as evidence of corruption in the DeSantis administration.
The ruling adds a late turn to a politically charged case as DeSantis, barred by term limits, is set to leave office in January.