TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier responded Tuesday to the ongoing Hope Florida controversy.

Uthmeier says he’s tired of what he calls “the politicized narratives” surrounding a Medicaid overbilling settlement where money from that settlement was given to his political action committee while he was Governor Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff.

State Representative Alex Andrade says the transaction was inappropriate and illegal.

Uthmeier says all was above board, claiming he wasn’t involved in the settlement negotiations that put $10 million into the Hope Florida Foundation. And he says after reviewing the case, everything looks legal.

As WEAR News previously reported, $10 million came from Centene Corporation to the foundation as part of a settlement for overbilling Medicaid.

Days later, two PACs requested $5 million each from the Hope Florida Foundation.

Almost instantly, Rep. Alex Andrade says Uthmeier directed a majority of that money to go into his own PAC to fight against Amendment 3 that would’ve legalized recreational marijuana.

Uthmeier says there’s nothing illegal about the settlement or subsequent donations.

“We’re here to talk about crimes against children and you want to talk about these political narratives,” he said Tuesday. “I was not involved in the settlement or contributions. In looking at it, everything looks legal, the attorneys looked at it and I assume the state and Centene had attorneys involved. Obviously there’s this representative on this big tirade seeming to do to the lobbying for big marijuana.”

“I wasn’t part of the deal that was struck,” he added. “My understanding is that there was a sweetener in there that Centene’s estimated harms to the state and there was a sweetener in there because the state was acting in good faith.”

Uthmeier says he hasn’t received a subpoena on the case, but he’s prepared to hand over any records related to the investigation.

We’re expecting to learn more about the investigation on Thursday with the healthcare budget subcommittee meeting at 8 a.m. in Tallahassee.