Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier petitioned a court to stop the Florida Democratic Party from airing an ad talking about a leaked Hope Florida grand jury report, according to a newly public appellate filing.

His request to the court, which was denied, came on the same day that the Republican Party of Florida filed a separate lawsuit against TV stations, the state Democratic Party and others to force them to stop airing the advertisements. The party said the ad violated state law by talking about the expunged grand jury report — one in which jurors chronicled how a “sophisticated scheme” to “misappropriate” state money unfolded.

But less than a week later, the state GOP on Wednesday dropped its lawsuit, saying that it had had “the desired effect” and that the Florida Democratic Party stopped airing the video.

The GOP also pointed to letters sent by some state attorneys’ offices, including that of Hillsborough’s Suzy Lopez, warning TV stations that broadcasters could be committing crimes by airing the campaign ads.

Michael Sasso, counsel for the party, said in his filing Wednesday that the party was dismissing its case “so that the work of the State Attorneys can continue without distraction.”

“Florida’s grand jury laws carry real consequences,” the Republican Party of Florida said in a statement. “We’re heartened to see that state prosecutors are taking those consequences seriously.”

The Florida Democratic Party also claimed a win, saying Republicans backed down and withdrew their lawsuit. A spokesperson for the Democratic Party said the party had already planned to air the advertisements for a limited time, before the appellate opinion expunging the secret report took effect.

“Republicans sued over an ad we were already taking down, and all they managed to do was put it in front of more Floridians,” Caroline Korba, communications director for the Florida Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal earlier this month ordered a grand jury report related to Hope Florida expunged. The grand jury said $10 million in public funds from a Medicaid settlement were “misused for political purposes” but, given their inability to pinpoint whose idea it was, didn’t indict anyone. The appellate court then lambasted their report as being riddled with flaws.

Judge Lance Neff, who wrote the majority opinion, said the grand jury went beyond its scope by accusing people of criminal behavior without charging anybody. Neff said the millions were “never public money.” He also took the state attorney to task for, he said, an “over-broad handling of a confidential document.”

Uthmeier’s attorney, pointing to that order, filed an emergency motion with Neff’s court on Friday. He wanted the court to confirm that any publication about the expunged report violates Florida law and to stop broadcasters from airing the advertisement, according to the motion.

The advertisement mentioned the grand jury’s finding that the $10 million sent by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to the Hope Florida Foundation was “misappropriated.” It shows an image of Uthmeier looming over a stack of cash and notes that the money went to a political committee he controlled, a series of transfers that have been well-documented.

Uthmeier’s attorney said the three Democrats the advertisement supports — gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, state attorney general candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez and state chief financial officer candidate Annette Taddeo — showed “ill motive” by not including mention in the ad that Neff, in his order expunging the report, said the $10 million transfer was not a misappropriation and was a lawful executive action.

Uthmeier’s motion argued that airing information about the grand jury report “inflicts anew the very harm expungement was meant to end.”

The 1st District Court of Appeal denied Uthmeier’s request with no explanation.

On the same day that Uthmeier petitioned to have the ads stopped, the Republican Party of Florida warned television station managers that the ad about Uthmeier could be violating a grand jury secrecy law.

After party counsel Ben Gibson sent the letter, at least four state attorneys emailed TV stations in their jurisdictions to warn them of potential criminal charges for airing the ads, records obtained by the Tampa Bay Times show.

Uthmeier was appointed to his post by DeSantis in 2025 and is running to keep the seat. He faces Democrat Rodriguez in the Nov. 3 general election.

On Wednesday, at a news conference in Miami, DeSantis called Rodriguez a “dirtbag” for including his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, in a political ad. Casey DeSantis championed Hope Florida, a state initiative meant to get people off state welfare by connecting them with churches and other nonprofits.

The advertisement that Uthmeier and the state GOP challenged in court opens with Casey DeSantis holding a $10 million check. Though the Democratic Party created the ad, not Rodriguez’s campaign individually, DeSantis only focused on him and the attorney general race in his comments Wednesday.

“That’s a major league dirtbag, and I’m gonna ensure that he ends up suffering a very stinging defeat in November,” DeSantis said.

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(Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau reporter Liv Caputo contributed to this report.)

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