Florida courts reject GOP bids to block Democratic ads about Hope Florida scandal

Florida courts have turned down two separate Republican attempts to stop the Florida Democratic Party from airing ads about the Hope Florida scandal, according to a statement from the Democratic Party Tuesday.

A Highlands County circuit judge denied the Republican Party of Florida's emergency request to pull the ads off the air without a hearing. That ruling follows an earlier decision by the First District Court of Appeal on October 16 to reject a bid by Attorney General James Uthmeier and other officials to ban publication of grand jury findings related to Hope Florida.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the repeated legal losses show Republicans are trying to suppress information ahead of the election. "Floridians deserve sunlight," Fried said in a statement. "Our ads are staying on the air, and we will keep telling voters exactly what happened."

The appeals court has also ordered officials named in the case to explain what they know about how a redacted version of the grand jury report became public. Court records in both Hope Florida cases are set to be addressed in motions due around October 25 and 26.