Hope Florida Foundation meeting canceled after being derailed by racial slurs, porn and swastikas

A highly anticipated Hope Florida Foundation meeting on Thursday was canceled after a short time due to hackers screen-sharing offensive images and language including racial slurs, pornography and Nazi symbols.

The foundation and technicians appeared to lack the ability to control the public hijacking, and chair Joshua Hay called for a recess when the Zoom meeting was bombarded with shocking images. The Florida Channel ended the livestream shortly after, about 40 minutes after the meeting began.

The Department of Children and Families said law enforcement was called to investigate.

The almost theatrical turn of events was the Hope Florida Foundation’s first public gathering since its inception in August 2023. The meeting was intended to serve as a forum for the board of directors to discuss the state of the organization and its finances, public records, corporate governance and public meeting laws.

Created by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, the foundation has been facing harsh scrutiny by House Republicans for the past several weeks. Hope Florida was found to have received a $10 million settlement from Florida Medicaid giant Centene that it then paid out to two organizations, which in turn contributed the money to a PAC helping Gov. Ron DeSantis fight the marijuana legalization effort led by Keep Florida Clean. The political committee is headed by James Uthmeier, then Gov. DeSantis’ chief of staff and now state attorney general.

Further criticism has sprouted due to the foundation’s failure to file tax forms, offer public meetings or abide by other rules set in place for nonprofits.

Hope Florida Foundation chairman Hay said under oath Tuesday that “mistakes were made” in the organization’s record-keeping.

Uthmeier was accused by House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade of illegally funneling settlement funds through Hope Florida to help defeat the proposed marijuana amendment.

“This is looking more and more like a conspiracy to use Medicaid money to pay for campaign activity,” Andrade told reporters Tuesday.

A DeSantis-administration spending probe was launched earlier this week by the Republican-controlled House, which is in the midst of a rapidly escalating feud with the governor.

Before the onslaught of inappropriate images, Hope Florida Foundation Board of Directors heard public comment, and also accepted the resignation of board member and longtime Walgreen’s lobbyist Jake Farmer. He is to be replaced by Winter Park’s Wendy Nissan, an investment advisor.

Farmer’s resignation announcement comes on the heels of that of Erik Dellenbeck, the foundation’s former executive director, whose resignation was announced Wednesday. Dellenbeck also resigned as chair of the Florida Faith and Community Advisory Council.

House Speaker Daniel Perez on Wednesday told reporters the chamber’s probe into the organization wouldn’t end when Florida’s legislative session wraps up on May 2.

“It is very clear by what has been put out there that Hope Florida could have been run better. That maybe transparency would be a benefit for Hope Florida. [The governor] refuses to acknowledge that; at least the chair of Hope Florida had the courage to do so,” Perez said.

“Rules for thee but not for me,” he said. “That seems to be the motto of Ron DeSantis today.”

DeSantis on Monday this week accused House Republicans of working with the “liberal media” in a “smear” campaign against him and the First Lady.

A message from the Hope Florida board of directors on the Florida Department of Children and Families website reads, “We apologize for the earlier disruption to the public meeting. The Department of Children and families is actively working to address the incident.”

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This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2025.