Transcript

GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 16 min · 2,627 words · 20 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 4, 2026 (16 min, about 2,627 words). It mentions 24 people, works and ideas, including Amendment 3 (Florida 2024), James Uthmeier, Katie Fang, Hope Florida, Florida Pregnancy Care Network.

What this episode is about

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is embroiled in a significant scandal involving a $35 million scheme that allegedly misdirected funds meant for Floridians. Local reporting by the Miami Herald has highlighted these serious accusations, raising concerns about the implications for DeSantis's political ambitions amidst ongoing controversies surrounding other political figures.

Key takeaways

  • DeSantis allegedly redirected $35M: a plot twist from governance to grandstanding.
  • Marijuana and abortion came close: Florida's nearly 60% wants to choose, not lose.
  • Hope Florida, no hope here: $10M charity cash swirled into political machinations.
  • Professor's take: 'Corruption at children's expense'—ironic compassion from a campaign.
  • Journalism's power play: Miami Herald's exposé reminds us truth has no price tag.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Katie Fang, Katie Fang News
  2. – 6:00: Grand jury investigation, Hope Florida, Six-week fetal heartbeat abortion ban
  3. – 9:00: Facebook, Florida Department of Health, Kenneth Goodman, Tampa Bay Times
  4. – 12:00: Hope Florida, Hope Florida Foundation, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Florida Pregnancy Care Network
  5. – 15:00: Florida Pregnancy Care Network

Notable quotes from "GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM"

  • Herald exposing a $35 million scheme diverting money away from the Flidians who should be getting this money. Katie Fang, is a host on the Midas Touch Network. Subscribe to her…
    about Katie Fang · at
  • Putting out, please let other people know so they can also subscribe to the Katie Fang News channel. So, let's get into this reporting. It's critically important. And here we…
    about Katie Fang News · at
  • Three specifically would have legalized recreational marijuana and amendment four would have overturned the six week fetal heartbeat abortion ban and both fell just short of…
    about Six-week fetal heartbeat abortion ban · at
  • Diverted misuse of funds, there's nearly $10 million that was the use of money from a charity called Hope Florida. So, in the Hope Florida charity scandal, which is the subject…
    about Hope Florida · at
  • Flityians to be able to try to do this allout media blitz which include like TV ads and radio ads and Facebook and etc. Right? So check this out. A professor named Kenneth…
    about Facebook · at
  • That was money that a Medicaid contractor named Centine, it had donated that to the Hope Florida Foundation as a part of a big legal settlement in September of 2024. And…
    about Hope Florida Foundation · at
  • Time was headed up by the state's elected chief financial officer, who was a guy by the name of Jimmy Patronis, but he has since been elected to Congress.
    about Jimmy Patronis · at
  • GOP aligned campaign firm. The Hope Florida Foundation, a state created charity. The Florida Pregnancy Care Network, which runs anti-abortion clinics. RSNH, a state engineering…
    about Florida Pregnancy Care Network · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Concepts & topics

Sponsors

Full transcript with timestamps

Uh-oh. Haven't heard from this guy in a while, but Governor Dantis in Florida, he's in some deep, deep trouble. Some incredible local reporting by the Miami Herald exposing a $35 million scheme diverting money away from the Flidians who should be getting this money. Katie Fang, you know, is a host on the Midas Touch Network. Subscribe to her channel, by the way. Did an incredible recap on this. You know, Katie's from Florida. The issue is here Ronda Santis in some serious trouble in this $35 million scheme and I want to put it on your radar. I know with all the craziness going on with Trump's cover up of child sex traffickerings, with all of the fraud that Donald Trump is engaged in, it seems like Ronda Santz though may need to angle more for a pardon for himself right now at the end of this Trump turn than perhaps even running for office, which is what his ambitions are.

Let me bring in Katie Fang from the Midas Touch Network. Katie, take it away. Hey folks, Katie Fang here. I wanted to go through some amazing amazing reporting from the Miami Herald. It came out before Christmas. And again, there's been so much going on and understandably so about the Epstein files, the, you know, vessel strikes, uh, the the war against Venezuela. I mean, there's just so much going on that this probably didn't kind of register on your radar, but it's so egregious and it involves Governor Ron Death Santis that I felt like it was so important to share this information with you. And so, I wanted to get into the details. And again, my hat off to the Miami Herald, local journalism folks always support it. Our local journalists are telling us what is happening in our respective backyards.

Um, it is invaluable reporting and I know that I am just preaching to the choir when I say that our local journalists, our papers, our publications, they deserve our support. While we're talking about support, if you haven't subscribed to my channel, I am asking you with respect, can you please like and subscribe? Um, you may think that you've subscribed to this channel already, but maybe you haven't. And if you like the content that I am putting out, please let other people know so they can also subscribe to the Katie Fang News channel. So, let's get into this reporting. It's critically important. And here we go. And it is Governor Ron Dantis' administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds as part of his agenda last year in 2024 to defeat two ballot amendments that he staunchly opposed.

I'm going to say some of the key parts again. Dantis diverted $35 million in taxpayer funds. Taxpayers in Florida, your funds that were earmarked for specific agencies in Florida, for specific services for specific communities diverted to fight against two specific ballot initiatives that were on the ballot in November of 2024 that Dantis didn't like. And wait till you hear what they were. those ballot initiatives. According to the Miami Herald, much of that diverted money, much of that diverted $35 million was intended to assist needy Flidians, including children. Instead, it went to Dantis cronies, political consultants, lawyers, and thousands of advertisements that helped Dantis and his asskissers win at the ballot box.

The two ballot amendments were the one that was going to basically um put into the Constitution of Florida the right to an abortion. It would have basically gotten rid of the idea that you have a six-w week fetal heartbeat abortion ban here in Florida. It basically would have um given Flityians this right. and the other one was to legalize marijuana. Now, here's the thing. In Florida, you'd have to get 60% of the vote. And in both instances, they came really, really close. The people that wanted to have these amendments passed. So, amendment three specifically would have legalized recreational marijuana and amendment four would have overturned the six week fetal heartbeat abortion ban and both fell just short of the 60% that was needed to pass. So, think about this. If our elected officials like Dantis are supposed to be respecting the will of the voters and the voters are telling you pretty damn close to 60% that they

want to legalize recreational marijuana and they want to provide the constitutional right to an abortion in the state of Florida, shouldn't you be listening to your voters? Shouldn't you be listening to them instead of actively diverting already earmarked taxpayer funds to the tune of $32 million to defeat those amendments? How about not putting your thumb on the scale? In addition, within that 32 million diverted misuse of funds, there's nearly $10 million that was the use of money from a charity called Hope Florida. So, in the Hope Florida charity scandal, which is the subject of a grand jury investigation involving who else? the first lady of Florida, Casey Dantis, and the current the current attorney general of Florida, James Utmire, who was the chief of staff at the time for Ron Dantis. Nearly $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was steered to a political committee that was controlled

by Uty and there is an allegation that there is the potential of criminal activity. That was a foot. Now, here's the thing. D Santis, remember in his failed vanity project to run for president, he had depleted funds and so he didn't have money to be able to combat these amendments, right? So he basically took money that was taxpayer money that was already earmarked to help Flityians to be able to try to do this allout media blitz which include like TV ads and radio ads and Facebook and etc etc. Right? So check this out. A professor named Kenneth Goodman, professor emmeritus at the University of Miami, who for decades directed medical ethics at that school, said that Dantis' campaign, quote, "This is corruption at the expense of children." Not just children, by the way, but others. So, let's talk about what the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times did because it's pretty impressive. And you know what it

is? It's kind of like it's old school journalism. I mean, I'll say the word old school, but it's really journalism the way it it's supposed to be, right? So, the Herald Times, what they did was this. They looked into thousands of pages of emails, vendor receipts, ad records, and state payments. They went into the state of Florida's accounting and budgeting system. It traces the source of every penny in last year's $116.5 billion state budget. Of 36.2 million in taxpayer money tapped by the Dantis administration, the Herald Times analysis shows that at least $21.2 2 million moved through an intricate web of financial transactions across five state agencies to just a handful of vendors. Now, of course, we as Floridaians and you as concerned Americans, you don't really get the full transparency. Why? Because the state refuses to turn over key documents that were requested by the Herald Times as a

part of their story. But what is clear is in order to pay for these campaigns, Dantis tapped into funds that were otherwise again earmarked floor fidians. I'll give you an example. The DCF had $1.1 million taken from its child protection program to place ads to fight against these amendments. That money had originally come from federal grants and it mostly was supposed to go to organizations that were helping kids that were in foster care or to offer services and counseling to parents so that they didn't lose custody of their children. And you want to know how it was invoiced? You know how it was booked? Ads for quote mothers, babies, and children. End quote. But let me be clear. They were ads to make sure that people like you and me didn't have the constitutional right to an abortion in Florida. The Dantis administration took $4 million from an opioid settlement trust fund and directed towards these

anti- ballot initiative campaigns. That money was won in 2022 from suing drug makers and distributors and it was supposed to help drugaddicted Flidians. The Florida Department of Health $970,000 was redirected from its community public health promotion cam program to campaign ads. Kind of crazy, right? And that $10 million that we just talked about. Yeah. That was money that a Medicaid contractor named Centine, it had donated that to the Hope Florida Foundation as a part of a big legal settlement in September of 2024. And instead 8.5 million of it ended up in a political committee that was controlled by James Utmire. And that political committee was dedicated to defeat amendment three, the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The Herald Times analysis found that of the $36.2 2 million in taxpayer dollars spent on last year's campaign, 79% came from funds that were reserved for healthcare. So, Flidians specifically, I'm talking to you. If you think Ronda Santis or any of these Republicans give a [ __ ] about you, you're dead ass wrong. And let me tell you why I'm adding in other Republicans. Because here in Florida, you have to be able if you want to be able to check out if money is being used properly, you're supposed to be able to go to the Department of Financial Services, right? And they're the ones that going to sit there and figure out, hey, is the money being spent appropriately? Is it in compliance with state laws and the rules? Well, the Department of Financial Services at the time was headed up by the state's elected chief financial officer, who was a guy by the name of Jimmy Patronis, but he has since been elected to Congress.

So when the Herald Times contacted Patronis to say, "Man, we're looking into this money. We want to know what's going on." He said, "You really need to talk to the current department head, Bla1A." Well, Blae Enoglia is a former Republican state senator who was appointed by whom? Ron Dantis to his position at the Department of Financial Services. It's total total lackey backs scratching quid proquoing going on here. You're never going to get accountability when you have Republican governor, Republican AG, Republican state senate, and Republican state representatives, right? It's never going to [ __ ] happen, especially in a place like Florida. Now, look, there's this great chart that's included in this piece from the Herald, and it breaks down how $36.2 million in taxpayer dollars was spent to defeat last year's amendments three and four by the Deantis administration. And it's a clear chart. And if you look at

it, it's five freaking recipients. Only five. Strategic Digital Services, a GOP aligned campaign firm. The Hope Florida Foundation, a state created charity. The Florida Pregnancy Care Network, which runs anti-abortion clinics. RSNH, a state engineering contractor, which then sent $150,000 of the almost $4.43 million it got to the Florida Association of Broadcasters. And then almost half a million dollars was spent on four different law firms having to defend the state of Florida from lawsuits that were brought because of these campaigns. Now, here we go. As I mentioned, the Department of Health, they diverted $2 million from grants and donations to the campaign against medical, excuse me, against marijuana.

And the same legal exemption was apparently cided to every time questions were asked about the the healthcare agency spending money, right? Um because they were they were circumventing these competitive bidding requirements that were you have to do to be able to get these deals to get these contracts as vendors. And listen to this, right? The legal assumption that they cited to said that the ads provided quote health services involving examination, diagnosis treatment prevention medical consultation, administration, end quote. What a croc of [ __ ] What a vague croc of [ __ ] Dantis' Department of Health has cited that legal exemption more than 5,000 times since 2020 to justify paying doctors, vaccines, health screenings, and other services to support Dantis policies.

Go figure. Now, what I wanted to share with you is this. Remember how I mentioned that one of those five recipients of money was one of those abortion agencies? Well, let's talk about what happened to them. Okay, so of that $36.2 million, nearly $5 million was sent to a a company called Florida Pregnancy Care Network. And the intent was for this network, the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, to run anti-abortion ads to fight back against Amendment Four, which again would have basically given the constitutional right well to Flidians to be able to get an abortion. Right? So the board of the Florida Pregnancy Care Network refused to run ads that explicitly targeted Amendment 4. Instead, they ran more quote neutral ads about that organization's services and about Florida's services to pregnant women and families as they led up to the November 2024 election. Do you want to know what Dantis did? Cuz he got pissed. He then

proposed stripping the network of funding because they refused to run the ads that explicitly targeted Amendment 4. And don't forget, there were threats made to criminally prosecute TV stations if they didn't stop running ads that were yes on four, yes on amendment four. They were threatened to be criminally prosecuted and it was so bad that the Department of Health's general counsel resigned because he's like, I can't be complicit in this. I mean, I want you to think about how much money was basically stolen from flityians, from taxpayers that would have gone to help them in various ways. And yet, these Republicans like Desantis, they do this without batting an eye. And it just goes to show why I've been harping so much here at my channel about paying attention to our local and state races, because you have to care. You have to care about the people that are running for these races.

not only just your governor, but your attorney general and your state reps and your state senators because they are the ones that more immediately impact you on a daily basis. They're the ones that are controlling the potholes that are in your front streets that are messing up your car. They're the ones that are impacting the services that are being provided to you and your family, your schools, what's being read, what's not being read. I mean, these are the things that are important. And when you hear something like this that Dantis didn't like, Dantis didn't like these particular ballot initiatives and he diverted 36.2 million to defeat them.

And what makes me really mad is it worked. It worked because we didn't hit the 60% threshold. So how many people were influenced because of this diverting of money and the skirting of these laws by Dantis and his lackeyis? I mean, talk about putting your thumb on the scale, right? In an unfair and clearly not legal way. Folks, pay attention to the stuff. I'm going to say what I said at the beginning. Support your local journalists. They are tracking down this stuff. They are doing the type of soouththing. That is good investigative journalism.

And so, my hat off again to the Meime Hill for doing this type of work and for highlighting and exposing this type of corruption because we all deserve to know the truth.

New Midas merch. Head to store.midestouch.com today and get yourself the best prodemocracy gear and show your support. That's store.mistouch.com.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM"?

Ben Meiselas (Host), Katie Fang (Guest), Unidentified MeidasTouch Announcer (Guest).

What is "GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM" about?

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is embroiled in a significant scandal involving a $35 million scheme that allegedly misdirected funds meant for Floridians. Local reporting by the Miami Herald has highlighted these serious accusations, raising concerns about the implications for DeSantis's political ambitions amidst ongoing controversies surrounding other political figures.

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

24 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Amendment 3 (Florida 2024), James Uthmeier, Katie Fang, Hope Florida, Florida Pregnancy Care Network, Florida Department of Financial Services. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "GOP Gov CAUGHT IN $35 MILLION SCAM that COULD END HIM"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 2,627 words in 20 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.