Grand jury declined to indict anyone but said there was a ‘sophisticated scheme’ to use funds for political activity

A Florida grand jury has found that the administration of the governor, Ron DeSantis, “misappropriated” $10m in taxpayer money from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity with ties to DeSantis’s wife, before the money was reportedly “funneled” into “two political action committees”.

In the grand jury report, which remains sealed but was obtained and published by CBS News Miami on Wednesday, the grand jurors wrote that “we conclude that these funds were misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” but said that they found “insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally”.

Michael Caruso, once praised by Ron DeSantis, removed from Palm Beach county civic official roles after arrest

Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has suspended a former close ally and senior civic official who was arrested on felony child sexual abuse charges.

Michael Caruso, who was removed as clerk of court and comptroller for Palm Beach county on Tuesday, was a vocal supporter of a law signed by DeSantis in 2023 that allowed the death penalty for anybody convicted of the sexual battery of a child under 12.

US supreme court declined to halt execution of William Frances Silvia, and state has two executions next month

A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law was executed on Tuesday, continuing the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty in the final term of the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.

William Frances Silvia, 61, was pronounced dead at 6.11pm after receiving a three-drug injection at the Florida state prison near Starke.