James Uthmeier A G

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MOFO 7 25 ON CONC CAMP MERCH

see LEO

jones day vaden? mizelle

raga

fascism

clarence

cbd chem?

SEE DEEP STATE BS CIA JFK

weather haarp

civil contemp for order disobey immigr 2 laws

SEE TATE

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note msnbc? jan p? other ag won case; corp sent offer to fla, which sat 3 yrs, carved off 10B 1 sk to send

PKO

Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout

08/27/2026

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Democrats are using a leaked grand jury report on Hope Florida as a fresh line of attack against Sunshine State GOP incumbents, seizing on findings that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer funds from a health care settlement intended to help needy children.

The controversy — first uncovered by GOP state lawmakers — has given Democrats an opening to tie two prominent Republicans to a dispute over millions of dollars in taxpayer money that ultimately flowed into a DeSantis-backed political committee.

The long-running scandal involved a charity connected to an initiative spearheaded by Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, called the Hope Florida Foundation, and has entangled GOP Sen. Ashley Moody and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, both of whom were appointed to their current jobs by the governor and are up for elections in November.

On Wednesday, a grand jury report looking into the funds was leaked to CBS Miami. According to the report, jurors concluded that state officials shifted upwards of $10 million as part of a “sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” because the money eventually went to a political committee and the Republican Party of Florida to defeat an amendment that would have broadly legalized marijuana in the state. Some of the money also flowed into a political committee tied to Gov. DeSantis himself, according to the grand jury.

But the report — which was apparently issued in January but has been kept under seal since then — also concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to criminally charge anyone because “nobody will take responsibility” for routing the money to the foundation or “had any memory of who made it.” At the time money was shifted, Moody was state attorney general while Uthmeier was the governor’s chief of staff.

CBS Miami published its story on the grand jury report on Wednesday, the same day state Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democrat running against Moody, launched her campaign kickoff event in Jacksonville. Ahead of her kickoff, Nixon called on Moody to resign and described the funds transfer as “corrupt” and “disrespectful” in an interview with POLITICO. She drew attention to the report in her stump speech before a crowd of around 200 people who gathered for her campaign launch later that night.

“It just came out today,” Nixon said of the news report. “She stole $10 million for medically needy kids in order to defeat two citizen-led ballot initiatives that you all placed on the ballot that would have allowed you all to have healthier lives.”

Asked about this before the revelations in the grand jury report were published, Moody’s campaign pointed to how Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, which is responsible for setting health policy and planning, negotiated and settled the agreement with health insurer Centene after Centene overbilled Florida’s Medicaid program. The settlement ultimately led to the health insurer paying back the state $57 million, with another $10 million flowing into Hope Florida.

Moody’s Senate office spokesperson, Will O’Grady, said Thursday the leaked report “confirms what we have said all along,” regarding how AHCA negotiated the agreement “and the settlement funds were disbursed according to its terms.”

“Neither the Department of Legal Affairs nor the former attorney general had knowledge of how the settlement money would be spent,” he said. “Attempts to characterize this any other way are disingenuous.” Moody released a similar statement on X, blaming the news on the “political season” where “there may be a tendency to misrepresent the facts.”

But the grand jury report concluded Moody knew about the plans to divert the money to the foundation and “authorized” John Guard — then a top official in her office — to sign the settlement agreement. The report additionally stated Guard worried about the transfer and raised it with Moody, and as a result the settlement was rewritten so that AHCA was directing the funds instead of the attorney general. In her statement, Moody said “multiple agencies” signed the final agreement.

President Donald Trump nominated Guard for a federal judgeship last year but did not renominate him this year. Guard appeared before the grand jury, though Moody and Uthmeier didn’t. Asked about the leaked grand jury report on Thursday, DeSantis said during a press conference in Lake City, Florida, that “the only crime that was apparent” was its leak.

“There was no diversion of any Medicaid funds. It was a private settlement,” he said. The governor also argued that the “whole reason” the investigation came up was to “smear” his wife, though he didn’t raise the fact that the news had reached a fever pitch last year while Casey DeSantis was weighing a run for governor. The first lady is only mentioned in the grand jury report in the context of describing what Hope Florida is, not in regard to any transfer of funds.

Uthmeier was not only the governor’s chief of staff when the money was transferred but was also leading the political committee the governor was pushing to try to convince the public to vote against the pot ballot measure. Asked about the report Thursday, Uthmeier during a press conference in The Villages called it a “politically motivated witch hunt” and “hoax,” and maintained “nobody did anything wrong here.” He accused Democrats of collusion with the press to leak the report, though didn’t offer evidence of how CBS obtained the report, and pointed out how he wasn’t allowed under Florida law to comment on grand jury proceedings.

Democrat José Javier Rodríguez, who’s running against Uthmeier for Florida attorney general, called on his rival to “resign, come clean and turn himself in.” He pointed out that the report also said that Uthmeier was a key figure in the diversion of the funds and later was among those who’d been blocking the release of the report.

“This report pulls back the veil on the corruption Floridians have been seeing for years,” Javier Rodríguez said. “Enough is enough.”

David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for governor, pledged Thursday to “reopen” an investigation “into the laundering of Medicaid funds” if elected. Jolly, in a statement posted on X, noted that those involved — including Uthmeier and Moody — had been appointed to key posts by DeSantis, which he asserted was designed to “further insulate anyone from accountability and hide the truth from Floridians.” The campaign for Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nixon said she wasn’t certain whether her campaign would be able to run ads on the matter — she has raised about $2.5 million since launching her campaign in January, an amount that falls far short of what would be needed to run a statewide ad. She added, however, that she would “hit [Moody] hard on it.”

“Kids are probably going to die because they didn’t get the resources that they needed,” she told POLITICO.

Annette Taddeo, the Democratic candidate for Florida chief financial officer, used the report to criticize current CFO Blaise Ingoglia, another DeSantis appointee, for “ignoring stealing in plain sight” and spending time criticizing local government instead of focusing on issues in state government.

Ingoglia was not in his position at the time the transfer occurred, but Katie Strickland, now a top aide for him, worked in the DeSantis administration at the time and was identified by other witnesses “as a participant in meetings and conversations.” The grand jury found her testimony “not credible” and called her testimony “least informative” because “she could hardly recall any details or information” about the settlement. Strickland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, state Senate Democrats called on both Moody and Uthmeier to resign.

Democrats aren’t the only ones raising concerns. The initial investigation was started by GOP members of the state House before the grand jury took it up. The GOP state representative leading the investigation, Alex Andrade, had sent his records to the Second Judicial Circuit. GOP Sen. Rick Scott, a two-term former governor, had praised the state House’s work and said the money should be paid back. When asked about the latest report, Scott called it “deeply concerning.”

“Money designated to help poor kids was diverted to political ads,” he said. “Florida families deserve accountability, not more finger pointing in Tallahassee.”

Andrade declined to comment on the leaked report.

Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, now a host on One America News Network, praised CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede over X for producing a “great scoop” and later drew attention to the fact that Uthmeier had been leading the political committee against the marijuana amendment.

When Uthmeier celebrated a $1.2 million settlement on X with consulting firm Deloitte over its diversity, equity and inclusion practices, Gaetz taunted with, “What PAC are you sending the settlement money to?”

Kimberly Leonard reported from Jacksonville, and Gary Fineout reported from Tallahassee.

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herALD

After a grand jury report found that Florida misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money, the DeSantis administration is arguing that the anonymous leak of the report was the only crime committed. And that reporters asking about its contents may be breaking the law. “Let’s do a little exercise, here. Pull out your phone,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told a reporter Thursday who asked for comment on the report, which had been sealed for months before CBS Miami reported on it Wednesday. Leaking a grand jury report is a first-degree misdemeanor.

Uthmeier, who refused to discuss the report beyond calling it a politically motivated hoax, told the reporter to look up a Florida statute banning criminal solicitation. “Are you trying to solicit a crime here in violation of the law?” Uthmeier asked, smiling. “I did not think so.” The report found that $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was funneled through the DeSantis-aligned charity, Hope Florida, to two nonprofits and ultimately sent to a political committee fighting Amendment 3, a proposal to legalize marijuana.

The report did not find enough evidence to bring criminal charges for anyone involved, which includes some of the highest echelons of Florida’s political system: a current U.S. senator, the attorney general, DeSantis’ chief of staff, and an appellate judge. Those officials moved into these elevated positions in the months following the Herald/Times’ reporting on the scandal engulfing the embattled charity. The DeSantis administration, meanwhile, has bitterly rebuked all accusations of wrongdoing, maintaining that the investigation has been politically motivated and a “debunked hoax.”

They’ve maintained that the $10 million gifted to Hope Florida by Medicaid contractor Centene as part of a $67 million legal settlement was a “bonus,” not Medicaid dollars — despite the grand jury report finding that all of the money belonged to taxpayers. Although Gov. Ron DeSantis, at an unrelated news event in Lake City, agreed with Uthmeier that leaking the report was the only crime committed in the Hope Florida saga, he took the most offense to the media tying the scandal to his wife, Casey DeSantis.

Florida’s first lady for years was the face of the organization, touting it as one of her key initiatives. Gov. DeSantis on Thursday demanded the press take down articles and images using her picture, accusing the press of “smearing ... good people.” “I think the people that were behind the smear, in the political arena, were disgraceful,” he said. “We’ve got cancer in the Legislature — some of these people are bad actors.”

The charity was created to connect needy families to churches and other community groups to help move them off of government assistance. Since the grand jury report was issued in January, Casey DeSantis has not promoted Hope Florida. This story was originally published August 27, 2026 at 2:24 PM.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article317033347.html#storylink=cpy

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Indictment Of Cuba's Raúl Castro DOJ | Rev

RAUL CASTRO PRESSER SEN MOODY

(09:54)

I'm proud to stand here on this podium with US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones to my right. Chris Raia, Deputy Director of the FBI.

(10:10)

You're going to get to clap for Jason in 20 seconds. Chris Raia, Deputy Director of the FBI and James Uthmeier, the Attorney General of this great state. And your great US senator is here as well. She's very busy in D.C. but wouldn't miss this for the world. So thank you for being here, Senator Moody.

(10:36)

So I want to thank Jason for his leadership down here in Florida. He's doing a great job beyond today and I'd also ask him to replace me at the podium to say a few words. So thank you, Jason, very much....

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AN 5 26

Far-right Florida AG claims surrogacy is 'akin to slavery' - Alternet.org

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NOTUS

Leonard Leo speaks to media at Trump Tower in New York City on Nov. 16, 2016.

By Taylor Giorno

April 13, 2026

Conservative legal activist Leonard Leo’s “dark money” operation is getting a makeover.

The Concord Fund quietly filed articles of termination on Jan. 6 of this year, according to previously unreported Virginia business records. Leo’s Concord Fund, which was previously known as the Judicial Crisis Network, has for years been a key node in a network of nonprofits used to steer tens of millions of dollars each year to conservative political committees and causes.

A branch of The Concord Fund remains active in Missouri, where it’s spent millions trying to influence state elections in recent years. It’s unclear why The Concord Fund otherwise terminated its operations. Gary Marx, The Concord Fund’s president, did not respond to emails requesting comment on the organization’s status, and a phone number listed on the group’s latest annual report to the IRS was disconnected.

Leo, a lawyer and businessman, is co-chair of the board of directors for the Federalist Society, which has — until recently — had close ties to President Donald Trump and many prominent Republicans.

Other dark money groups with ties to Leo are taking up activities previously undertaken by The Concord Fund. The ultimate source of the money, funneled through nonprofits or donor-advised funds that do not have to disclose their donors, remains obscured.

“Because the names change, I think most Americans have no idea what’s going on or how many of these differently named groups are the same through line with Leonard Leo at the sort of center of the spider web,” Lisa Graves, founder and executive director of the left-leaning watchdog group True North Research, told NOTUS.

The Concord Fund’s demise — and apparent reimagining — appears to have begun late last year.

In December 2025, a few days before The Concord Fund dissolved, another Leo-linked nonprofit called The Lexington Fund registered several alternative names including Judicial Crisis Network and Honest Election Project Action, according to Texas business records.

Also in December, a new nonprofit popped up in Tennessee: The Yorktown Fund. The nonprofit added the alternative name “Honest Election Project Action” on Dec. 29, the same day The Lexington Fund registered the same pseudonym, according to state business records.

Another Leo-linked nonprofit, The 85 Fund, lists the Honest Elections Project among its alternative names. Rolling Stone first reported the addition of the Lexington Fund and the Publius Fund to Leo’s nonprofit network in 2024.

Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, Justin Smith, disclosed sitting on the board of the Yorktown Fund and the Publius Fund, Patrick McNeil reported for the Substack newsletter Nomination Notes. (Smith’s nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated for April 15.)

Neither Smith nor Oramel Skinner, director of The Lexington Fund, responded to requests for comment.

At the end of 2024, The Lexington Fund reported just $305,000 in grants and contributions, according to its latest report to the IRS. The Concord Fund has a prior connection to The Lexington Fund, having reported giving it $105,000 from July 2023 to June 2024.

But by the end of 2025, The Lexington Fund had steered millions into political committees that spent big money in state attorneys general races in 2025.

Now, it’s poised to shape 2026 midterm campaigns, particularly those involving state attorneys general.

The Lexington Fund gave $1 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association in July 2025, according to the organization’s year-end report filed March 30, 2026. First Principles Action, which shares an address with The Yorktown Fund, also gave $200,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association in December.

The Concord Fund had been the top donor to the Republican Attorneys General Association, but the nonprofit suddenly stopped contributing to the organization in 2025. The Lexington Fund appears to be stepping in to help seed the state attorneys general organization — and other conservative committees.

The Lexington Fund also contributed nearly $3.3 million to the First Principles PAC in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission data.

First Principles PAC and First Principles Foundation were incorporated in Tennessee on Nov. 20, 2024, along with First Principles Action. First Principles is reportedly run by Peter Bisbee, who previously worked for the Republican Attorney General Association and the Federalist Society, and all three First Principles entities share an address with Yorktown Fund.

First Principles PAC steered seven-figures worth of money to state election committees in 2025, including $1 million to the Republican State Leadership Committee, $325,000 to Republican James Uthmeier’s successful bid for attorney general of Florida and $252,000 to Defend Kansas PAC.

THOMAS DATWYLER # BOGIS? 13K FUNDRAISE; TAILAGTE KOBACH

Bisbee did not respond to requests for comment.

The Lexington Fund also gave $1 million in June 2025 to Pine Tree Results PAC, a super PAC supporting Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who faces a tough reelection campaign this cycle. And Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC focused on expanding the Republican majority in Congress, received $500,000 from The Lexington Fund in May 2025.

Leo, who played a key role in helping Trump select three Supreme Court justices in the president’s first term, has long been a boogeyman among liberals.

He’s also controversial on the right: When Trump publicly lambasted Leo as “sleazebag” who “probably hates America” last May, Leo appeared unceremoniously shunned from the inner political circle he had once inhabited. The break came as Trump-appointed judges that the Federalist Society helped select — including three sitting Supreme Court justices — have ruled against some of Trump’s second-term policies, such as his sweeping tariffs.

But the nonprofits and political committees within Leo’s dark-money apparatus continue spending aggressively to the benefit of Republicans as the 2026 midterms approach.

The Concord Fund has for years steered millions of dollars of dark money into politics not only through the Republican Attorneys General Association, but also through the Club for Growth, One Nation and other groups active in elections.

Groups at the forefront of advancing conservative policy and priorities also got grants from The Concord Fund. For example, since the Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the federal right to an abortion, The Concord Fund has poured millions into anti-abortion groups involved in state abortion-ban efforts and the decades-long fight at the federal level to restrict access to mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions.

Dark money is hardly limited to conservatives. Democrats and Republicans both rely on dark money to fund their operations, including super PACs aligned with their respective leadership in the House and Senate.

“It matters when these groups shape shift because it makes it harder for people to track them, you know, and to tell that story of continuity: how much this one person, over the past decade, has had such an extraordinary influence,” Graves told NOTUS.

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mma

December 11, 2025, edition of The Benny Show, posted to YouTube

BENNY JOHNSON (HOST): Mr. Attorney General, thank you so much for being on the show today. Those are, like, we just had Barry Loudermout on. He's running the January 6 committee. It's just like a complete barn burner. I know that you're here serving as our state AG. But if you don't mind, can I ask you about an a national issue, which is some of the concurrent investigations that are going on, whether it be Thomas Crooks, or Tyler Robinson, or the pipe bomber? What would be your advice in order to get the American public read in on so many of these issues that seem to be kind of fraying the country right now? Right?

JAMES UTHMEIER (FLORIDA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL): My advice would be to investigate to the fullest. Ask every question. Thank you, Benny, for continuing to ask these questions. I think the American people have lost faith and credibility in law enforcement. They hear about inquiries, investigations that don't actually go anywhere. Things just get swept up the rug. We stop asking questions. And at the end of the day, we don't give the American people the answers they need. The questions you're asking are the right ones. There's a lot that doesn't make sense. People can call us conspiracy theorists, but I think you're on to something that's massively important, for our country and its history.

JOHNSON: There's no such thing as a conspiracy theory. I mean, that's a slur.

That's a slur that was made up after JFK was shot. And what did we learn just a month ago based on Anna Paulina's investigation here from the great state of Florida? Well, we found out that the CIA has been withholding a document that proves that they bumped into Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico, that they were working — at the very least, they were working in tandem with him on various operations. This has been proven. We have the documents now. And so it's actually — you're a conspiracy theorist if you don't think that there was some type of intel involvement and at least the operation — operability of Lee Harvey Oswald. They've now just completely admitted it. The records are there. The documents are there. And so, yeah, who was right all along? Right?

UTHMEIER: Yeah. The deep state for decades has been hoping that people at home will not ask questions, that they are not smart enough to figure out the truth. And, again, God bless you for digging into it. Representative Luna is doing a great job on many fronts. And, here in Florida, where we see wrongs that need to be righted, we will dig in, and and we will absolutely investigate and prosecute to the fullest. You got my word on that.

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AN PP 11 25

Online influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who has millions of young male followers, was facing allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries when he and his brother left their home in Romania to visit the United States.

“The Tates will be free, Trump is the president. The good old days are back,” Tate posted on X before the trip in February — one of many times he has sung the president’s praises to his fans.

But when the Tate brothers arrived by private plane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, they immediately found themselves in the crosshairs of law enforcement once more, as Customs and Border Protection officials seized their electronic devices.

This time, they had a powerful ally come to their aid. Behind the scenes, the White House intervened on their behalf.

Interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica show a White House official told senior Department of Homeland Security officials to return the devices to the brothers several days after they were seized. The official who delivered the message, Paul Ingrassia, is a lawyer who previously represented the Tate brothers before joining the White House, where he was working as its DHS liaison.

In his written request, a copy of which was reviewed by ProPublica, Ingrassia chided authorities for taking the action, saying the seizure of the Tates’ devices was not a good use of time or resources. The request to return the electronics to the Tates, he emphasized, was coming from the White House.

The incident is the latest in a string of law enforcement matters where the Trump White House has inserted itself to help friends and target foes. Since entering office for a second term, Trump has urged the Justice Department to go after elected officials who investigated him and his businesses, and he pardoned a string of political allies. Andrew Tate is one of the most prominent members of the so-called manosphere, a collection of influencers, podcasters and content creators who helped deliver young male voters to Trump. And news of the White House intervention on behalf of the accused sex traffickers comes as Trump is under fire over his ties to notorious child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his administration’s recent efforts to stop the public release of the so-called Epstein files.

Ingrassia’s intervention on behalf of Tate and his brother, Tristan, caused alarm among DHS officials that they could be interfering with a federal investigation if they followed through with the instruction, according to interviews and screenshots of contemporaneous communications between officials.

One official who was involved and spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid facing retribution said they were disgusted by the request’s “brazenness and the high-handed expectation of complicity.”

“It was so offensive to what we’re all here to do, to uphold the law and protect the American people,” the person said. “We don’t want to be seen as handing out favors.”

It’s unclear why law enforcement wanted to examine the devices, what their analysis found or whether Ingrassia’s intervention hindered any investigation. The White House and DHS declined to answer questions about the incident.

But law enforcement experts said it is highly unusual for the White House to get involved in particular border seizures or to demand authorities give up custody of potential evidence in an investigation.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that in my 30 years working,” said John F. Tobon, a retired assistant director for Homeland Security Investigations, which typically analyzes the contents of electronic devices after they’re seized by Customs and Border Protection. “For anyone to say this request is from the White House, it feels like an intimidation tactic.”

Tobon said that even if authorities resisted the request from Ingrassia, knowledge that the White House opposed their actions could cause them to be less aggressive than they would normally be: “Anytime somebody feels intimidated or as if they’re not free to follow procedure, that’s going to stay in the back of their mind because of the consequences. In this administration the consequences are different, people are getting fired.”

Samuel Buell, a Duke University law school professor and former federal prosecutor, called the pressure on behalf of the Tates “another data point” in the White House politicizing law enforcement.

“This is not something that would have been viewed as appropriate or acceptable prior to 2025,” Buell said. “There’s a pattern here of severe departure from preexisting norms … that are being tossed aside left and right.”

The Tate brothers’ lawyer, Joseph McBride, said he didn’t know what happened to the devices but that his clients have still not had them returned. He said it’s unclear whether any investigation into their contents is continuing.

His clients, he said, are innocent and there was no illicit materials on their electronics. “There have been multiple investigations against them and nothing has come of it,” McBride said.

Ingrassia worked at McBride’s firm before joining the White House, and McBride acknowledged speaking “to Paul from time to time” but couldn’t recall discussing the seized devices with him. Ingrassia, he said, has never given the Tates special treatment since joining the Trump administration.

The White House declined to answer questions about whether Ingrassia was acting on his own or representing the White House’s wishes.

In a brief interview with ProPublica, Ingrassia denied trying to help the Tates, before hanging up. “There was no intervention. Nothing happened,” he said. “There was nothing.”

Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Paltzik, said in a text message: “Mr. Ingrassia never ordered that the Tate Brothers’ devices be returned to them, nor did he say — and nor would he have ever said — that such a directive came from the White House. This story is fiction, simply not true.”

When questioned about whether Ingrassia had asked authorities to return the devices, even if he did not order them to, Paltzik declined to comment, explaining that “the word ‘ask’ is inappropriate because it is meaningless in this context. He either ordered something or he didn’t. And as I said, he did NOT order anything.”

A DHS spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about the intervention or any impact it might have had on an investigation, only saying in a statement that Customs and Border Protection “performed a 100% baggage examination and detained all electronic media devices when the Tate Brothers entered the country. Electronic media devices were detained and turned over to Homeland Security Investigators for inspectional purposes.”

Ingrassia’s work at McBride’s small New York law firm included helping to represent the Tate brothers. He has praised Andrew Tate’s “physical prowess” on social media along with his “willpower and spirit,” calling him “the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence.”

Ethics experts said when government officials take actions to benefit former clients, it undermines public trust.

“The rule of law cannot be carried out if it depends on cronyism,” said Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in the administrations of both parties. “To have a member of the White House interfere when they’ve had a prior client relationship and some sort of personal relationship, that gives rise to questions of impartiality.”

Trump had nominated Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, but the 30-year-old lawyer’s chances for Senate confirmation imploded after Politico reported that he had sent a string of racist text messages to fellow Republicans and described himself as having “a Nazi streak.” Paltzik, his lawyer, raised doubts about the authenticity of the texts but said “even if the texts are authentic, they clearly read as self-deprecating and satirical humor.”

In a post on X announcing he was withdrawing from his Senate confirmation hearing because not enough Republican lawmakers were supporting him, Ingrassia said he would “continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again.”

Last week, Ingrassia announced he was moving to a new role within the administration, after Trump called him into his office and asked him to serve as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration.

It’s unclear what prompted authorities to seize the Tates’ property, but the bar for searching electronic devices is significantly lower for those entering the U.S. compared with those already in the country, even if they are citizens.

After the seizure, the contents were examined by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations, according to the official involved. A Homeland Security official, who asked for anonymity because they didn’t have permission to speak publicly, confirmed that HSI agents scrutinized the contents.

The Tates left the United States in late March.

No criminal charges have been filed against the brothers in the United States, though a lawyer representing four anonymous defendants sued by them in Florida filed court papers this year suggesting that federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York were investigating the pair. No other details have become public, and a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office declined to comment.

In an interview with conservative podcaster Candace Owens soon after landing in Florida, Andrew Tate revealed his devices had been seized, saying they were taken after he refused to give customs officers his passwords.

Tate, who was born in the U.S. but spent much of his childhood in Britain before moving as an adult to Romania, complained that his rights were violated, calling himself “one of the most innocent people on the planet.”

And he said law enforcement officials wouldn’t find anything on his devices: “You think I sleep with a phone full of evidence? You think I don’t wipe my phone every night? You think I’m dumb? Come get me.”

In that interview, Tate made no mention of a White House official intervening on his behalf and seemingly misidentified state authorities in Florida as responsible for taking his devices.

Shortly after the Tates landed on Feb. 27, Gov. Ron DeSantis and state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that Florida authorities had launched an investigation into the brothers. Uthmeier said his office had “secured and executed subpoenas and warrants” and called the brothers’ behavior “atrocious.”

“These guys have themselves publicly admitted to participating in what very much appears to be soliciting, trafficking, preying upon women around the world,” he said at the time. “We’re not going to accept it.”

The status of the Florida investigation is unclear. A spokesperson for the Florida attorney general declined to comment for this article.

Allegations of sexual abuse and violence have swirled around Andrew Tate for almost as long as he’s been in the public eye. In 2016, Tate was booted off the cast of the British version of the “Big Brother” reality series around the time a video emerged of him whipping a woman with a belt. Tate said he and the woman were joking.

Tate’s profile only rose afterward, and he began amassing a following as a self-help guru for young men. He quickly aligned himself with Trump’s then-young MAGA movement.

“The tate family support trump FULLY. MAGA!” he posted on social media after meeting with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in 2017.

Tate moved to Romania a year after his brief foray in reality TV, in part, he said, because he believed authorities there investigate sex crimes less aggressively.

“I’m not a … rapist but I like the idea of being able to do what I want,” he said.

But in 2023, prosecutors in Romania accused the Tates of operating a criminal group that trafficked women, including some who alleged the brothers led them to believe they were interested in relationships but instead forced them into filming online pornographic videos. Prosecutors also said they were investigating allegations that the Tates trafficked minors. Andrew Tate was charged with rape. The Tates have denied the allegations, and the initial charges against them were sent back to prosecutors by a court because of procedural issues.

The Tates face similar allegations in Britain. Authorities there authorized a raft of charges against the brothers, including rape and human trafficking, based on allegations from three women. In 2024, arrest warrants were issued for the brothers, who have denied wrongdoing, but authorities said they would not be extradited to the United Kingdom until criminal proceedings in Romania were completed.

A woman has also sued the Tates in Florida, accusing them of luring her to Romania to coerce her into sex work. The Tates have denied the allegations, and last month a judge dismissed most of her claims but allowed for her to refile.

This year, Tate derided the allegations against him and compared himself to Trump on X. “Romania? No case UK? No case USA? No case,” he posted on X. “Lawfare? – Im one of the most mistreated men in history beside president Trump himself.”

The intervention on behalf of the Tates was not the first time those around Trump took an interest in legal issues involving the brothers.

In February, Romania’s foreign minister said that presidential envoy Richard Grenell told him at an international security conference in Germany that he remained interested in the fate of the Tates. “I did not perceive this statement as pressure,” the foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, said, “just a repeat of a known stance.” Grenell told the Financial Times that he had “no substantive conversation” with Hurezeanu but supported “the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets.”

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Florida Attorney GeneralJames Uthmeier (R) has announced the launch of a new tool for members of the public to report “acts or threats of political violence" as well as social media posts of public school teachers, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Uthmeier, chairman of the ironically named far-right "Florida Freedom Fund" political action committee associated with Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), has the backing of Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, who, recently sent a letter to public school superintendents threatening teachers who publicly express negative opinions about deceased far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

In a statement attached to Uthmeier's announcement, Kamoutsas said that “any educator who makes vile, despicable comments celebrating and encouraging violence in schools will be investigated and held accountable.”

According to The Tallahassee Democrat, Uthmeier said that "while the First Amendment will be upheld, threats of violence won’t be tolerated."

In the wake of Kirk's death, several Florida public school teachers have lost their jobs and status or been put on leave, including Karen Leader, an associate art history professor at Florida Atlantic University, placed on leave for posting about the right-wing podcaster's history of hate speech.

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A retired University of Florida professor lost his honorary title after posting about Kirk, “I did not want him to die. I reserve that wish for Trump," and other professors' posts are under investigation by the state along with teachers at several K-12 schools throughout the state.

“I didn’t say anything or do anything that encouraged violence at all,” Leader told Hyperallergic.“I did not say or do anything that celebrated his death, that said he deserved it, that in any way, shape or form, condoned violence.”

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From the July 10, 2025, edition of MSNBC's The Briefing with Jen Psaki

In Florida, it seems that one government official isn’t just nodding to the conspiracy theory; he appears to be embracing it. On July 14, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote a letter to all public airports in the state warning them that “injecting our atmosphere” with chemicals for the purpose of influencing the weather is banned and that “violators of this law are guilty of third degree felonies and fines as high as $100,000.” In the letter, he also suggests “weather modification could have played a role” in the Texas floods, and specifically mentions cloud seeding.

These wild claims didn’t come out of thin air. Conspiracy theorists have repeatedly alleged that the government and private companies are creating extreme weather through cloud seeding, a type of geoengineering used to combat drought and enhance precipitation. Some have also claimed that weather monitoring systems are “weather weapons,” and that condensation trails from planes are actually dangerous chemicals.

Proponents of these conspiracy theories include Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has claimed that geoengineering is “probably as dangerous to us as climate change itself” and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who proposed a bill that “prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperate, climate, or sunlight intensity.”

On a July 12 segment of CNN This Morning Weekend, host Victor Blackwell asked Monica Medina, the former principal deputy administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to react to the congresswoman’s claims about weather manipulation and to the EPA’s new webpages. Medina said, “There is nothing about this storm that was controlled by scientific experiments regarding geoengineering. … This kind of disinformation leads people to think that every part of the warning system can’t be trusted at a moment when they have to move quickly."

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From the July 12, 2025, edition of CNN This Morning Weekend

Psaki echoed Medina, pointing out, “There is zero, zero evidence that cloud seeding had anything to do with the Texas floods, and scientists emphasize that this relatively young technology simply cannot produce the kind of rainfall that caused the Texas flooding.”

Indeed, scientists have explained that what conspiracy theorists refer to as “chemtrails” are actually harmless trails of condensation or contrails, and that it’s “extremely unlikely” that cloud seeding could result in a large-scale disaster like the one in Texas.

Despite Zeldin’s confusing messaging, the EPA’s new webpage confirms what we already knew about contrails and says that “EPA is not aware of any scientific evidence that supports any claim that any nefarious activities are taking place.”

Nonetheless, “nod[s] to conspiracy theorists” can have real world consequences. Psaki explained how “in Oklahoma, far-right extremists took credit for damaging a local news station's weather radar, falsely claiming that the technology used to track weather events was actually some kind of weather weapon.”

The station that was attacked linked the event to “rhetoric” from the anti-government group Veterans on Patrol, which also caused chaos during the response to Hurricane Helene last fall.

Conspiracy theories distract from legitimate questions about FEMA’s response in Texas

Psaki contextualized the focus on conspiracy theories by digging into the real issue at play, which is how recent cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency may have hindered the response to the floods.

She covered several contentious findings, including a CNN report that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem created an emergency funding bottleneck by ruling that all expenses over $100,000 have to be directly approved by her.

Psaki also mentioned a Talking Points Memo reportthat Noem canceled “a $3 million grant for improving communications between national and local authorities during natural disasters” even as rescue efforts in Texas were ongoing.

Fox News has pushed back against this type of reporting, lambasting Democrats and the media for connecting the disaster to the Trump administration's policies. But the network not only politicized extreme weather tragedies under former President Joe Biden, in the case of Hurricane Helene, also pushed harmful misinformation that hindered relief operations.

Many factors likely contributed to the tragic impacts of the Texas flood, including decisions made by state lawmakers and local officials, as well as a failure to adequately consider flood maps when building infrastructure. But as Psaki observed at the end of the segment, “This is not how a functioning government responds to crises or prepares to respond to crises, that's for sure.”

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conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and at least four of his colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court, though it's unclear how many, unceremoniously declined to disturb a federal judge's order blocking enforcement of SB 4-C, a law that created state criminal penalties for illegal immigration in Florida.

The Wednesday denial of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's application for a stay of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' preliminary injunction pending appeal in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was only one line, containing no further explanation or reasoning from SCOTUS.

"The application for stay presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied," the order said.

In April, Williams, a Barack Obama appointee, sided with the plaintiffs, the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Farmworker Association of Florida, granting the temporary restraining order and the injunction they requested. Williams was persuaded by the argument that SB 4-C amounted to an unconstitutional state assertion of immigration enforcement powers that belong to the federal government.

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U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams found firebrand Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt Tuesday for defying an April order.

Earlier this year, The Independent reports Williams banned the enforcement of a Florida law making undocumented immigrant travel a misdemeanor while the contested law is being challenged in court. But Uthmeier sent out a notice to Florida law enforcement telling them he personally disagreed with the order, calling it “both wrong on the merits and overbroad on its scope,” according to court documents. The AG added that his office will “continue to press these scope-of-relief arguments in the district court and, as appropriate, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.”

Later, in a follow-up memo, Uthmeier told officers he “cannot prevent [them] from enforcing” the challenged laws.

“It is my view that no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws,” he wrote.

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Weeks later, the court demanded of Uthmeier why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned over his texts, but the AG claims he hadn’t technically violated William’s order because he does not personally enforce the contested law. That duty falls to officers.

However, while Uthmeier does not act as a grounds enforcement officer, the court determined he did wrongfully adopt the role of interpreting the law as a court magistrate, and decided Uthmeier requires looking after. As part of Williams' new order finding him in contempt, the AG must now file bi-weekly reports “detailing whether any arrests, detentions, or law enforcement actions pursuant to [the challenged laws] have occurred, and if so, how many, when, and by which law enforcement agency.”

While misinterpreting or ducking court orders himself, Uthmeier is not above threatening local law enforcement and sheriffs he feels do not uphold his goals. Earlier this month, Uthmeier sent Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony a letter warning he could be removed from office if he did not overtly agree to help the Trump administration crackdown on immigration.

“I would hope your statements were mere political posturing, but if not, your expressed positions would constitute a failure of your statutory obligation to utilize ‘the best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law’”, Uthmeier wrote.

A week prior, Tony had informed his local county commission that stretched county resources did not give him the luxury of enforcing immigration, which he felt should be left to the federal government.

“We have other priorities in this community that I’m focused on, and immigration is not one of them, not to dismiss the importance of that,” Tony had said.

Read the full Independent report at this link.

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In 2023, Target's Pride Collection became the subject of an intense legal battle between Republicans and Democrats. Seven GOP state attorneys general sent Target a letter attacking the merchandise as "obscene," claiming the company featured "anti-Christian" designs on t-shirts. But 15 state attorneys general, in a letter to Target CEO Brian Cornell, vowed to stand up for the retail chain and its gay-themed merchandise.

The letter read, "As Attorneys General with a strong commitment to protecting the civil rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals, we write to express our resolute and unequivocal support for the LGBTQIA+ community as well as our concern regarding recent events in Target stores involving intimidation and destruction of certain Pride-related merchandise and Target's resulting decision to remove some Pride merchandise from its stores."

Now, in 2025, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is attacking Target's Pride Collection in a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit, according to Miami New Times reporter Alex DeLuca, accuses Target of "defrauding investors" with the merchandise and accuses the company of "not properly disclosing to investors the risk" of "offensive" products.

"In a 163-page lawsuit filed in federal court last week," DeLuca explains, "the (Florida) State Board of Administration, which manages Florida's pension fund and other investments, alleges that Target — which it describes as the 'self-proclaimed store of the boomer mom who drives a minivan and lives in the suburbs' — 'betrayed' its core customer base of 'working families and investors' by 'making false and misleading statements about Target's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates that led to its disastrous 2023 children-and-family themed LGBT-Pride campaign."

Attorney Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), is a scathing critic of Uthmeier's lawsuit.

In a February 20 thread on X, formerly Twitter, Cohn wrote, "This is asinine, performative buffoonery and an attack on the First Amendment Uthmeier has a problem with products (described in my article linked downthread) based on the messages they convey — all of which are First Amendment-protected, and none of which 'sexualize children.'"

Cohn also tweeted, "It's beyond question that these expressive items are protected, as is Target's decision to sell them. That Florida's retirement fund holds shares of Target is irrelevant and meaningless. Government does not gain the power to regulate speech because it's a shareholder."

===

wiki no talk

James William Uthmeier (born November 20, 1987) is an American political campaign strategist and lawyer, serving as the 39th Attorney General of Florida since 2025. He previously served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis.

Early life

Uthmeier is a native of Destin, Florida.^[1] He attended Fort Walton Beach High School and later graduated from the University of Florida, where he had competed for the Florida Gators track and field program.^[2]

Career

[edit]

Uthmeier worked from 2017 to 2019 in the U.S. Department of Commerce as a senior counsel and senior advisor in the Trump administration.^[3] He then joined the office of Florida governor Ron DeSantis as deputy general counsel in 2019, then was promoted in 2020 to general counsel.^[3] He was named Chief of Staff in 2021.^[1]

From 2023 to 2024, Uthmeier served as campaign manager of Ron DeSantis's unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.^[4]

On January 16, 2025, DeSantis announced that he would appoint Attorney General Ashley Moody to the United States Senate to succeed Marco Rubio in the event that he is confirmed to become United States Secretary of State.^[5] He also announced that he would appoint Uthmeier to succeed Moody as attorney general.^[6] Uthmeier was sworn in on February 17.

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Education

Georgetown University Law Center - JD (2014)

Activities and notes: Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, managing editor; student attorney; Criminal Justice Clinic; Georgetown Law Republicans, president

University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration - MA, international business (2010-2011)
University of Florida (Gainesville) - BS; BA, business administration, political science (2006-2010)

Activities and notes: Studies abroad, University of Mannheim, Germany

Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) High School - Diploma

Employment History

Florida Office of the Attorney General (Jan. 2025-)

Attorney General

Florida Office of the Governor (Jan. 2024-Jan. 2025)

Ronald Dion DeSantis (Ron)

Chief of Staff

Ron DeSantis for President (Aug. 2023-Jan. 2024)

Ronald Dion DeSantis (Ron)

Campaign Manager

Florida Office of the Governor (Oct. 2021-Aug. 2023)

Ronald Dion DeSantis (Ron)

Chief of Staff

Florida Office of the Governor (Oct. 2020-Oct. 2021)

Ronald Dion DeSantis (Ron)

General Counsel

Florida Office of the Governor (March 2019-Oct. 2020)

Ronald Dion DeSantis (Ron)

Deputy General Counsel

U.S. Department of Commerce (Jan. 2018-March 2019)

Wilbur Louis Ross

Senior Adviser/Counsel to the Secretary

U.S. Department of Commerce (July 2017-Jan. 2018)

Senior Counsel to the General Counsel

U.S. Department of Commerce (Jan. 2017-July 2017)

Wilbur Louis Ross

Special Adviser to the Secretary

Jones Day (Oct. 2014-Jan. 2017)

Associate

Sen. Marco Rubio (**R**-FL) (Dec. 2012-Jan. 2014)

Law Clerk

Jones Day (May 2013-Aug. 2013)

Summer Associate

Senate Judiciary Committee (Sept. 2012-Jan. 2013)

Law Clerk

Associated Organizations

Bar membership:

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# James Uthmeier

Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis

Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis

Tallahassee, Florida, United States Contact info

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Chief of Staff

Chief of StaffChief of Staff

Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantisExecutive Office of Governor Ron DeSantisOct 2021 - Present · 3 yrs 5 mosOct 2021 to Present · 3 yrs 5 mos

Executive Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Executive Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantisExecutive Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 2 yrs 8 mos2 yrs 8 mos

General CounselGeneral Counsel Oct 2020 - Oct 2021 · 1 yr 1 moOct 2020 to Oct 2021 · 1 yr 1 mo
- Deputy General CounselDeputy General Counsel Mar 2019 - Oct 2020 · 1 yr 8 mosMar 2019 to Oct 2020 · 1 yr 8 mosTallahassee, FloridaTallahassee, Florida

U.S. Department of CommerceU.S. Department of Commerce 2 yrs 3 mos2 yrs 3 mos

Senior Advisor & Counsel to Secretary Wilbur RossSenior Advisor & Counsel to Secretary Wilbur Ross Jan 2018 - Mar 2019 · 1 yr 3 mosJan 2018 to Mar 2019 · 1 yr 3 mosWashington, District Of ColumbiaWashington, District Of Columbia
- Senior Counsel to the General CounselSenior Counsel to the General Counsel Jul 2017 - Jan 2018 · 7 mosJul 2017 to Jan 2018 · 7 mos
- Special Advisor to the SecretarySpecial Advisor to the Secretary Jan 2017 - Jul 2017 · 7 mosJan 2017 to Jul 2017 · 7 mosWashington, District Of ColumbiaWashington, District Of Columbia

AssociateAssociate

JONES DAY®JONES DAY®Oct 2014 - Jan 2017 · 2 yrs 4 mosOct 2014 to Jan 2017 · 2 yrs 4 mosWashington D.C.Washington D.C.

Office of US Senator Marco Rubio logo

Law ClerkLaw Clerk

Office of US Senator Marco RubioOffice of US Senator Marco RubioDec 2012 - Jan 2014 · 1 yr 2 mosDec 2012 to Jan 2014 · 1 yr 2 mos

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EducationEducation

Georgetown University Law Center

Georgetown University Law CenterGeorgetown University Law Center J.D., LawJ.D., Law20142014

Activities and societies: Managing Editor, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy; Student Attorney,Criminal Justice Clinic; President, Georgetown Law RepublicansActivities and societies: Managing Editor, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy; Student Attorney,Criminal Justice Clinic; President, Georgetown Law Republicans…see more
University of Florida, Hough Graduate School of Business

University of Florida, Hough Graduate School of BusinessUniversity of Florida, Hough Graduate School of Business M.A, International BusinessM.A, International Business2010 - 20112010 - 2011

Activities and societies: Varsity Cross Country and Track and Field, NCAA All-Academic TeamActivities and societies: Varsity Cross Country and Track and Field, NCAA All-Academic Team

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:{:{Skills}:

Legislative RelationsLegislative Relations

- 11 endorsements

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article314763420

:{:{When James Uthmeier suddenly became one of Florida’s most powerful leaders, few people outside Tallahassee had heard of him. Now, a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis made him the state’s attorney general, Uthmeier is a ubiquitous media presence as he seeks to ingratiate himself with Florida’s conservative-leaning electorate. He’s brought culture-war lawsuits against corporations. He’s helped create the immigration detention center that he dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.

He’s talked tough in news conferences about prosecuting child predators, drug traffickers and assorted wrongdoers. TOP VIDEOS At the same time, Uthmeier hasn’t been able to shake questions and criticism over his connection to the Hope Florida political scandal. A state lawmaker has accused him of committing crimes related to the transfer of funds from a state settlement with a Medicaid contractor to a political committee he controlled while working for the governor. A grand jury investigation is underway. Uthmeier and DeSantis have denied wrongdoing. }:

Uthmeier’s politics and controversies are well known. The man himself, less so. At age 38, he stands at the pinnacle of an unlikely political ascent that has seen him change hats from government lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Tallahassee to behind-the-scenes strategist to state Cabinet official and candidate. “Intense” and “fearless” are words some fellow Republicans use to describe him. “Phony” and “bully” say others, also Republicans. He got where he is largely because of his work with DeSantis. The governor appointed Uthmeier, his chief of staff, to replace Ashley Moody, the twice-elected attorney general who left to fill Florida’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Both Moody and her predecessor, Pam Bondi, had long careers anchored in the dour courtrooms of the Hillsborough County Courthouse Annex — Moody as a judge who oversaw thousands of felony cases, Bondi as a homicide prosecutor. Uthmeier bears a comparative lack of experience, at least in Florida’s criminal courtrooms. What he does have is a tireless drive and an ability to influence the right people. Born to run Uthmeier grew up in Destin, in Florida’s Panhandle. It’s a largely conservative area, known mostly for the year-round tourist draw of its beaches. His parents moved there from Missouri in the 1990s. He has a younger sister. His father ran an outdoor advertising business and later worked in real estate. He earned straight A’s at Fort Walton Beach High School. He was part of various honor societies, Future Business Leaders of America and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He played guitar, trumpet and trombone and worked part-time for a beach clothing retailer.

He served as treasurer of his high school chapter of Teenage Republicans. He played on the school’s baseball team. But what defined Uthmeier’s youth more than anything else was running. A standout track athlete, he became captain of the school’s cross-country team. He kept running when he went on to study business at the University of Florida. Teammates spoke of his drive to win even in the face of crippling pain or midrace injuries. In 2005, the Northwest Florida Daily News named him its Runner of the Year. “Your natural instinct is to back off from pain,” Uthmeier told the newspaper. “But I’ve found it’s not any easier doing it that way. If you feel it, you attack and challenge it back.” Todd Morgan, who coached Uthmeier at UF, said that what Uthmeier lacked athletically, he overcame with his work ethic and determination. He and his teammates ran as much as 100 miles a week.

“He over-indexed on focus and toughness and composure,” Morgan told the Tampa Bay Times. “I always kind of felt like he had a clear vision of where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do.” Despite that vision, Morgan said politics wasn’t a topic Uthmeier ever discussed. Uthmeier’s office did not respond to two emails and a voicemail message seeking an interview for this story. But in an appearance last year on the “Deeper Dive with Dara Kam,” a podcast of the News Service of Florida, Uthmeier spoke about his background. He said competition from other runners dashed his dreams of professional athletics. “The Kenyans and Ethiopians that were running in the (Southeastern Conference) at the time, they smacked me around a little bit,” he said

. An encounter with then-U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio at a tailgating event put him on a different path, Uthmeier said on the podcast. During Rubio’s improbable run against former Gov. Charlie Crist, Uthmeier worked the streets and handed out signs. After Rubio won, Uthmeier followed him to Washington, where he worked as a staffer in his Senate office. Barack Obama was president. Democrats partly controlled Congress. The U.S. Supreme Court, then almost evenly ideologically balanced, delivered progressive victories on issues like the legality of the Affordable Care Act and the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Uthmeier’s exposure to some of the nation’s most contentious political and legal controversies drew him to the nearby Georgetown University School of Law. He wrote a scholarly article that cited the nation’s founders to argue that Obama had limited authority to take military action in Syria without congressional approval.

After graduating, he went to work in the Washington office of Jones Day. The sprawling, silk-stocking firm has helped foster the careers of many young conservative lawyers. Alumni include the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Uthmeier would later recall a day in 2015 when Don McGahn, a Republican attorney and veteran Washington insider, asked if he’d like to work for the next president. McGahn, who went on to serve as White House counsel in Donald Trump’s first administration, helped Uthmeier land a role at the Commerce Department. His work there included an unsuccessful effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which drew congressional scrutiny. It was a job that sent him as far away as China. But political winds — and an ambitious congressman named Ron DeSantis — would push him closer to home. The governor’s man Uthmeier stood straight-backed, gripping a microphone before an NBC TV camera in a University of Alabama auditorium.

Behind him, reporters milled near a large sign emblazoned with “DeSantis.” It was December 2023. On a mission to turn around the governor’s sputtering presidential campaign, Uthmeier was asked about his boss’s performance in a Republican debate that had just ended. DeSantis had responded tepidly to questions about Trump’s policies and whether he was mentally fit to serve. Uthmeier was anything but tepid. “I think the governor was very clear that the country needs a leader who is not going up into the 80s, who’s not lost his step,” he said.

“One thing is clear. Donald Trump is not the same guy he was four or six years ago. He has definitely lost his step.” The TV interview was, in retrospect, something of a milestone for Uthmeier. Until that moment, he had been a largely behind-the-scenes persona as one of DeSantis’ most trusted advisers. He’d joined the new governor’s legal team in 2019, working his way to become his general counsel and then chief of staff. He’d helped DeSantis secure political wins navigating crises and policy challenges like the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also helped orchestrate some of the governor’s attention-grabbing political moves — like when DeSantis removed Democratic Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren or when he arranged to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. “He was a smart staffer,” said Jason Gonzalez, a Republican attorney and former general counsel in the governor’s office.

:{“He didn’t get ahead of the governor. They’re motivated ideologically by the same things the governor is interested in. He could develop and implement a strategy for the governor, and there’s not going to be a lot of daylight that comes between them.” So it made sense that when DeSantis saw his presidential campaign stall, he called on Uthmeier to run it. David Polyansky, a veteran political consultant, joined as a deputy campaign manager at the same time. He was struck by Uthmeier’s intense yet disciplined strategy for campaigning.

“He was a fierce and vocal advocate for what he thought was the right approach for the campaign and the governor,” Polyansky said. “You don’t actually always get that in campaigns, believe it or not.” On TV that December, Uthmeier criticized Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He praised DeSantis as a winner, a “fighter” and a leader who “spits nails.” About a month later, as live results showed Trump beating DeSantis by more than 30 points in the Iowa caucus, Uthmeier — in a TV interview sporting a “DeSantis” cap — complained about media reports calling the race before voting concluded. “Voters decide elections,” he said. }:

“That’s foundational to our democracy.” He said DeSantis would keep campaigning. Six days later, DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump. The seeds of a scandal Uthmeier stood beside his wife, Jean, and their three young kids last February as DeSantis spoke glowingly of his tirelessness. “James was a bulldog in our administration,” DeSantis said. The governor mentioned Uthmeier’s role in defeating a pair of constitutional amendments — one that would have codified the right to abortion, another that would have legalized recreational marijuana. When voters rejected the amendments in 2024, it was seen as a win for DeSantis.

:{“We would not have succeeded in that fight if it wasn’t for James’ leadership,” DeSantis said. Almost as soon as Uthmeier took office, the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives began investigating the circumstances of how that fight was won. The probe focused on $10 million in Medicaid funds that were given to the Hope Florida Foundation, a state-created charity, as part of a $67 million legal settlement with the state.

The Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald’s joint Tallahassee bureau uncovered how the foundation, which supports the Hope Florida program championed by first lady Casey DeSantis, quickly gave out the $10 million to two nonprofits, who then sent most of the money to a political committee that aimed to defeat the marijuana amendment. The committee was controlledby Uthmeier. Last April, as the Herald/Times began publishing a series of stories about the spending, Uthmeier held a news conference in Tampa. He wanted to talk about a lawsuit his office brought against Snapchat over the social media app’s use by minors.}:

Reporters wanted to ask him about the burgeoning scandal. He tried to distance himself from the controversy while insisting there was nothing illegal about what occurred. As the inquiries kept coming, Uthmeier raised his voice. “Anybody have a question about protecting our kids?” he said. “I’m kind of tired of these politicized narratives.” In another news conference a month later, Uthmeier kept talking. He blamed the scandal on his political opponents, who he said were in bed with the marijuana industry. “We did the right thing,” he said. ”Everything we did was lawful. We won. I’m proud we won, and I’m glad that we have kept Florida safe, free and open for business in a healthy manner.”

On a conservative podcast days later, he asserted he had to do what he did to defeat the marijuana amendment. “Government officials certainly have a right, maybe even a duty, to protect the state against things like this that will change our laws and potentially harm us,” he said. Alex Andrade, the Republican Pensacola representative who led the House investigation into the spending, has accused Uthmeier of fraud and money laundering. “He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would put his name on the ballot if he wasn’t handed the job first,” Andrade told the Times. “He’s like an ‘ends justify the means’ guy,” he said. “You can’t be an ‘ends justify the means’ guy and be in a position like the attorney general.” This week came new criticism after the Herald/Times revealed Uthmeier had secured a $100,000 salary for a two-hour-a-week teaching gig at UF’s law school, vastly more than an adjunct professor typically makes.

While such controversies may have sunk a politician of yesteryear, Uthmeier hasn’t shown any significant dip in support. A year after he formally launched a bid to get elected to the office he already holds, he has amassed close to $5 million in contributions to his campaign and an affiliated political committee. His most sizable backing came from the state Republican Party, which has given him close to $1 million. His second biggest contribution — $325,000 — came from an organization called First Principles. The Nashville-based super PAC has been linked in media reports to Leonard Leo, the conservative legal activist credited with helping to shift the U.S. Supreme Court to the right.

:{Uthmeier’s other heavyweight contributors include William James Mateer, a hospitality executive whose father was a top DeSantis donor.:{ He also took in $270,000 from CDR Enterprises, a Miami-based engineering corporation that was one of several companies contracted to build Alligator Alcatraz,}: according to campaign finance records and news reports. The company’s married chief executives, Carlos Duart and Tina Vidal-Duart, are close with DeSantis. She was on the Hope Florida Foundation board but left amid the growing scandal.

Two Democrats and one Republican have also filed to run for attorney general. None has come close to matching Uthmeier’s war chest. Jose Javier Rodriguez is one of the Democrats. He’d raised close to $400,000 as of late December, according to campaign finance reports. The other Democrat, Fort Lauderdale lawyer Jim Lewis, reported raising no money but for a $2,000 loan to himself. Rodriguez, a former state senator from Miami, lost his seat in what is widely believed to have been the result of a criminal ghost candidate scheme orchestrated by Republicans. }:

:{He has vowed to “stand up to the powerful” and said the attorney general’s job is “not to be the governor’s lawyer.” “The current attorney general is probably the least independent attorney general we have ever had,” Rodriguez told the Herald/Times last year, calling Uthmeier “corrupt.” Steven Leskovich is the other Republican in the race. He’d raised about $80,000 as of December between his campaign and associated committee, according to state records.

He’s a Charlotte County attorney who started practicing law when Uthmeier was in middle school. Leskovich calls Uthmeier “pompous” and “arrogant” and a “playground bully.” “He claims Florida is the free state,” Leskovich said. “It’s only the free state if you believe in what he believes in.” He sees Uthmeier as unwilling to enforce certain laws — like when he urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a measure passed in the wake of the Parkland school shooting that raised the minimum age for gun purchases from 18 to 21. Leskovich doesn’t like that law, but he said the attorney general is obligated to defend it.}:

He also accused Uthmeier of putting pressure on local governments, which he says is not the role of the attorney general. Soon after he took office, Uthmeier threatened members of the Fort Myers City Council with removal from office if they didn’t make their police department cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. In May, he waded into a debate over whether a Clearwater roadway should be sold to the Church of Scientology. He told the city’s mayor his position against the sale could be unconstitutional and discriminatory.

:{He sent a letter to Pensacola officials in November, urging them to cancel a drag-themed Christmas show at a city-owned theater. With Uthmeier’s financial might, the endorsement of Florida’s voters could be little more than a formality. But there was another endorsement that may have been his heaviest lift. Uthmeier lobbied hard as speculation swirled about Donald Trump, whom he had criticized as part of the ill-fated DeSantis presidential bid, possibly backing an opponent. In September, he released a sleek video featuring footage near the Freedom Tower at Miami-Dade College — the perfect place, he said, for a Trump presidential library.

“I can think of no better location to tell the story of Donald Trump, a story of strength,” Uthmeier said in the video. “One of redemption. One of victory. One of sacrifice for the American people. It is the greatest political comeback story in history.” A little more than two weeks later came words of praise from the sitting president. “James Uthmeier is a Strong Conservative Fighter and Prosecutor, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”}:}:

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article314763420.html#storylink=cpy

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[### James William Uthmeier

_The Federalist Society_

https://fedsoc.org › contributors › james-uthmeier](https://fedsoc.org/contributors/james-uthmeier)

Feb 24, 2021 — James Uthmeier is the Attorney General of the State of Florida. Before this, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis.

[### Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

The Federalist Society

https://fedsoc.org › ttd-topics › florida-department-of-j...](https://fedsoc.org/ttd-topics/florida-department-of-juvenile-justice)

Mar 12, 2025 — Session I: Covid and Separation of Powers · Simone Marstiller, Chad Mizelle, Paul Renner, James William Uthmeier, Lisa Ezell. On January 30 ...

[### Gov. Ron DeSantis' former chief of staff James Uthmeier ...

WJHL

https://www.wjhl.com › news › national › ap-gov-ron-d...](https://www.wjhl.com/news/national/ap-gov-ron-desantis-former-chief-of-staff-james-uthmeier-sworn-in-as-floridas-attorney-general/)

Feb 17, 2025 — Speaking to the Yale Federalist Society earlier this month, DeSantis suggested Uthmeier could pursue state charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci ...

[### Gov. DeSantis appoints new Florida attorney general

CBS News

https://www.cbsnews.com › CBS Miami › Local News](https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/james-uthmeier-florida-attorney-general/)

Feb 17, 2025 — James Uthmeier was elevated Monday to become Florida attorney general after serving as the governor's chief of staff.

[### Who is James Uthmeier? 5 things to know about who ...

Yahoo

https://www.yahoo.com › news › james-uthmeier-5-thin...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/james-uthmeier-5-things-know-162900504.html)

Jan 16, 2025 — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said he plans to elevate one of his closest allies, James Uthmeier, to be the state's attorney general.

[### DeSantis previews Uthmeier's AG term

Politico

https://www.politico.com › newsletters › 2025/02/10](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2025/02/10/desantis-previews-uthmeiers-ag-term-00203335)

Feb 10, 2025 — DeSantis plans to soon appoint Uthmeier to the role of state attorney general, which became vacant when he tapped ASHLEY MOODY to the Senate to replace MARCO ...

[### James Uthmeier

National Association of Attorneys General

https://www.naag.org › Attorneys General](https://www.naag.org/attorney-general/james-uthmeier/)

Attorney General James Uthmeier grew up in Destin, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida, where he ran varsity track and cross-country.

Missing: federalist ‎| Show results with: federalist

[### Ron DeSantis thinks James Uthmeier could prosecute ...

Florida Politics

https://floridapolitics.com › archives › 720098-desantis-u...](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/720098-desantis-uthmeier-fauci/)

Feb 8, 2025 — Gov. Ron DeSantis thinks Joe Biden's pardon of Anthony Fauci leaves an opening for his soon-to-be Attorney General James Uthmeier to prosecute the doctor for ...

[### Covid and Separation of Powers [2021 Florida Chapters ...

YouTube · The Federalist Society

710+ views · 4 years ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEujp40jlLU)

1:13:39

On January 30, 2021, The Federalist Society's Florida lawyers ... Uthmeier, Acting General Counsel to Governor Ron DeSantis.

[### The Federalist Society - Orlando Lawyers Chapter

Facebook · The Federalist Society - Orlando Lawyers Chapter

490+ followers](https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoFedSoc/)

✨ Thank you to the sponsors of our 2022 Holiday Party ✨ Remember to RSVP here: https://fedsoc.org/events/2022-holiday-party- featuring-james-uthmeier · No ...

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Miami Herald

https://www.miamiherald.com › news › politics-government › state-politics › article314763420.html

How James Uthmeier rose to power in Florida politics | Miami Herald

Feb 19, 2026Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, at the lectern, with U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, left, at a news conference at the FDLE Miami Regional Operations Center on Feb, 19, 2026. Carl ...

CBS News

https://www.cbsnews.com › miami › news › james-uthmeier-florida-attorney-general

Who is James Uthmeier? Gov. DeSantis appoints new Florida attorney ...

Feb 18, 2025TALLAHASSEE - With Gov. Ron DeSantis describing him as a "bulldog," James Uthmeier was elevated Monday to become Florida attorney general after serving as the governor's chief of staff. While ...

Ballotpedia

https://ballotpedia.org › James_Uthmeier

James Uthmeier - Ballotpedia

James Uthmeier (Republican Party) is the Attorney General of Florida. He assumed office on February 18, 2025. His current term ends on January 2, 2029. Uthmeier (Republican Party) is running for re-election for Attorney General of Florida. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on August 18, 2026. [source] Uthmeier was the campaign manager for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ...

Tallahassee Democrat

https://www.tallahassee.com › story › news › politics › 2025 › 02 › 17 › desantis-uthmeier-attorney-general › 78964050007

James Uthmeier, former DeSantis top aide, now Florida attorney general

Feb 17, 2025James Uthmeier sworn in as Florida attorney general in Tallahassee ceremony 'All throughout our administration James was always digging in, fighting for what was right,' DeSantis said.

ampamerica.com

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James Uthmeier

Florida Attorney General

James Uthmeier - Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis | LinkedIn

James Uthmeier Archives • Florida Phoenix

Social Media Result Image

1:39

JamesUthmeierFL

Today, we filed a lawsuit against Target on behalf of the Florida State Board of Administration. Target’s efforts to sexualize children caused its stock price to plummet, harming Florida’s retirement fund and putting the retirements of our teachers and first responders at risk:

6 days ago

Age

37 years

Nov 20, 1987

Education

University of Florida, Georgetown University

James Uthmeier - Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis

James Uthmeier. Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis Georgetown University Law Center. Tallahassee, Florida, United States. 2K followers ...

Attorney General James Uthmeier | My Florida ...

My Florida Legal

https://www.myfloridalegal.com › ag-bio

uthmeier florida from www.myfloridalegal.com

Attorney General James Uthmeier grew up in Destin, Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida, where he ran varsity track and cross-country for ...

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and America ...

My Florida Legal

https://www.myfloridalegal.com › newsrelease › florida-...

6 days ago — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and America First Legal File Class Action Lawsuit Against Target for Misleading and Defrauding Investors ...

James Uthmeier

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › James_Uthmeier

uthmeier florida from en.wikipedia.org

James William Uthmeier (born November 20, 1987) is an American political campaign strategist and lawyer, serving as the 39th Attorney General of Florida ...

James Uthmeier - University of Florida Alumni Association

UF Alumni Association

https://connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu › events › james-uthme...

uthmeier florida from connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu

James currently serves as Chief of Staff to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously, he was General Counsel to where he oversaw all litigation and legal work ...

James Uthmeier - Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis

LinkedIn · James Uthmeier

1.6K+ followers

Tallahassee, Florida, United States · Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis

Experience: Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis · Education: Georgetown University Law Center · Location: Tallahassee · 500+ connections on LinkedIn.

James Uthmeier officially files for full term as Attorney ...

Florida Politics

https://floridapolitics.com › archives › 723081-james-uth...

18 hours ago — Attorney General James Uthmeier formally filed to run for a full term in his Cabinet post. The Tallahassee Republican filed days after he ...

Uthmeier, Moody are planning 2026 bids

WUSF

https://www.wusf.org › politics-issues › uthmeier-mood...

8 hours ago — New Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has taken the first step toward running for a full term in 2026, while his predecessor, Ashley Moody ...

Section Member Profile – James Uthmeier

The Florida Bar

https://www.floridabar.org › about › section › profile

Florida Attorney General THE Capitol Office of Attorney General Tallahassee, FL 32399-0002. Office: 850-717-9310. Fax: 850-488-9810.