Following the Hope Florida scandal, one can’t help but be reminded of the Mafia concept of “Omerta,” the code of honor and strict silence that forbids any cooperation or communication with legal authorities.

That’s a pretty good explanation for how Attorney General James Uthmeier, former Attorney General and current U.S. Senator Ashley Moody and others named in the leaked grand jury report have operated. Criminal activity may have occurred, but no one recalls how the $10 million made its way to the Hope Florida Foundation, from where it was funneled to political organizations which used it to beat back a pro-marijuana ballot initiative.

Can’t remember. Doesn’t ring a bell. Dunno.

This collective amnesia made it impossible to prosecute the case. No recollection, no charges, no accountability.

Don Corleone would be proud.

But the people of Florida are angry — and they’re right to be.

Uthmeier: no charges, but a key role

The $10 million in question was part of a larger $67 million settlement with Healthcare giant Centene, which had overbilled the state for for prescription drugs under the Florida Healthy Kids program. The settlement money went to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which directed the $10 million go to the Hope Florida Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization set up to help fund first lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida initiative.

According to the grand jury report leaked to CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede last week, No one can remember who made the call; who, specifically ordered the $10 million to be given to Hope Florida. But the grand jury noted that Uthmeier, who was Gov. DeSantis’s Chief of Staff at the time, “was in a position of authority over those involved in settling over Centene.”

And indeed, soon after Hope Florida got the $10 million, Uthmeier was on the scene, “advising” officials with a 501(c)(4) “dark money” group called Save Our Society from Drugs to apply to Hope Florida for a $5 million grant. At the same time, another “dark money” group, “Secure Florida’s Future,” got the same hot tip: Ask Hope Florida for $5 million.

In their respective, hastily assembled grant applications, both Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future vowed the money wouldn’t be spent on politics. Yet that’s exactly how it was spent: Both groups, upon getting their respective grants, immediately transferred most of the money to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee chaired by Uthmeier which then transferred the money to the Republican Party of Florida, and to another Uthmeier-led PAC, “Florida Freedom Fund,” which used the money to lobby against Amendment 3, the 2024 marijuana legalization ballot initiative.

So perhaps now it’s clear why Uthmeier spent months reportedly blocking the release of the grand jury report. In the aftermath of the leak, Uthmeier and Gov. DeSantis have insisted that the only crime was the leak, and they’ve warned the media about asking after the report.

Cue Don Corleone: Nice media company you got there. Would be a shame if anything happened to it.

Resolved at the ballot box?

Is this the way Floridians want their state to be governed? The manner in which the money was moved around was sneaky and opaque; the nonprofits involved almost certainly bent and likely broke IRS rules. This was money that belonged to the people of Florida, and it was misappropriated — stolen, if you prefer — for political purposes.

Floridians will have a chance to weigh in on this in November. Uthmeier and Ashley Moody are on the ballot; while VoteWater has not endorsed a candidate in the U.S. Senate race, we have endorsed Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez for Attorney General over Uthmeier — and the Hope Florida fiasco is a good illustration of why.

The Attorney General must uphold the law, not find ways around it. The Attorney General must take the side of the people, rather than working to thwart the will of the people.

Clean water and clean government go hand-in-hand; without the latter we will never have the former.

Indeed, it was striking to see photos of Uthmeier last week standing behind a podium emblazoned with the message: Combating Public Corruption. We do need to fight corruption. And that fight begins at home.