TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — One of the nonprofits that received millions from a Medicaid settlement steered through a Hope Florida charity by the DeSantis administration took in and spent the money without the knowledge of its Board of Directors, the group’s chairman wrote Wednesday in a resignation letter.

James Holton said publicly for the first time in his letter that the board he served on at Save Our Society from Drugs was unaware that its executive director was passing $5 million through the organization and into a political committee fighting against a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana. He said he learned about it in the media.

Holton also revealed for the first time that the executive director, Amy Ronshausen, had been suspended, a fact corroborated by Ronshausen in her own whistle blower complaint over what she claims was retaliation. Holton’s resignation letter and Ronshausen’s May 7 complaint were obtained by the Herald/Times on Thursday.

The St. Petersburg-based organization is now considering reinstating Ronshausen, according to Holton’s resignation letter.

Neither Holton nor Ronshausen immediately responded to a request for comment.

Ronshausen, who wrote that she was suspended with pay from her job on April 22, has maintained that she was coerced into sharing information about the Hope Florida Foundation grant with a Republican lawmaker who has been investigating how $10 million from a larger settlement with a Medicaid contractor was funneled through the Foundation to two nonprofits.

Those nonprofits, Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future, then donated millions to Keep Florida Clean, the anti-marijuana political committee led by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ then-chief of staff, James Uthmeier.

The lawmaker investigating the issue, Republican state Rep. Alex Andrade, has said he uncovered a “conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.” It’s illegal to divert federal money like Medicaid. It’s also against IRS rules for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit like the Foundation to spend a significant portion of its money on political causes, as is being alleged.

DeSantis and Uthmeier, now Florida’s attorney general, have dismissed Andrade’s allegations as a smear campaign. On Wednesday, first lady Casey DeSantis, who spearheaded the Hope Florida program, said she has been undeterred by “slanderous, false accusations.”

Ronshausen has said that Andrade has mischaracterized their conversation about the organization’s grant from the Hope Florida Foundation to exaggerate Uthmeier’s involvement in the movement of the money. Andrade says Ronshausen’s accusation is untrue.

She also alleged in her complaint to Holton that her suspension as executive director was part of a retaliation campaign for activities that included her communication with Andrade and her objections to hiring outside attorneys that had worked for one of Florida’s medical marijuana dispensaries.

In his letter, Holton objected to bringing back Ronshausen and said he was resigning from the board after consulting with his lawyer. He said he appreciated the board wanting to reinstate Ronshausen to put the matter behind them and to “avoid the need for litigation,” an apparent nod to Ronshausen’s complaint.

“I also believe it is just not prudent or good governance to reinstate Amy prior to the completion of a full forensic audit by a third-party auditor and completion of any possible investigation by law enforcement and the Florida House of Representatives,” Holton wrote.

He added: “Such a premature reinstatement, in my opinion, could subject SOS, the Board and all Board members individually to additional scrutiny by various governmental bodies and may expose individual Board members to personal liability.”

Holton is an attorney based in Tampa. He has been appointed by governors to several public boards, including by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Southwest Florida Water Management District in 2023.

Andrade told the Herald/Times that it is significant that Holton revealed that Save Our Society from Drugs’ board was unaware of its role passing the money from the Hope Florida Foundation to the political committee that fought the marijuana amendment.

A Hope Florida Foundation board meeting in April revealed that its own board members didn’t know where the $10 million that passed through their organization came from or whether it was public money. Andrade told the Herald/Times there was no board vote on either $5 million grant proposal from Save Our Society from Drugs or Secure Florida’s Future, a nonprofit controlled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

“The fact that these grants were kept from the SOS board the same way they were kept from the Foundation board further implicates the individuals who knew what was going on,” Andrade said in a text message. “Who on earth would hide a $5,000,000 grant from the Governor’s office from their own board?”

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