Attorney General James Uthmeier is criticizing Rep. Alex Andrade for what he calls a conflict of interest in an ongoing lawsuit against Planned Parenthood.
Uthmeier, who filed a $354 million lawsuit against the family planning organization in November, says Andrade should not be serving as Chair of the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee. Uthmeier’s main complaint is that the law firm Andrade works for, Moore, Hill and Westmoreland, is currently defending Planned Parenthood against the state lawsuit.
“His law firm is defending Planned Parenthood in state court against the state,” Uthmeier said. “Not only that, he chairs a subcommittee in the Legislature on health care.”
Uthmeier called on House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican, to remove Andrade from his subcommittee post.
Uthmeier targeted Andrade during a news conference in Tampa on an unrelated criminal case announcement. But he also hit Andrade earlier Monday in a post on X, saying Andrade is “profiting from abortions. Unacceptable!”
Andrade, a Pensacola Republican, fired back.
“Other lawyers at my firm were hired to be on their (Planned Parenthood) litigation team. That’s what my firm does. I wasn’t one of those lawyers. I’m paid a salary at my firm and don’t have any profit-sharing agreements with them,” Andrade said.
Andrade and Uthmeier butted heads last year as well over the controversial “Hope Florida” funding scandal. Andrade was at the forefront of the investigation in the Legislature.
Andrade rebuked Gov. Ron DeSantis, Uthmeier, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and others as he probed the case against the Hope Florida Foundation and $10 million the state steered to the charity.
