Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Tuesday issued an investigative subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America, saying his office is examining whether DSA accepted contributions or support “from foreign sources of concern, including the regimes in Cuba and China,” and whether its fundraising from Florida donors has been “fully transparent and lawful.”
In a video announcing the probe, Uthmeier said the subpoena was issued under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the state’s laws on the solicitation of funds. It covers “recent DSA delegations to Cuba, where national leaders and national political committee members met with Cuban government officials, as well as a delegation to China,” he said, along with travel fund solicitations that “sought tens of thousands of dollars to cover costs for those trips and related activities involving Florida chapters.”
Uthmeier’s office has not alleged that DSA actually took foreign money, and he said the subpoena “seeks the documents needed to determine compliance.” The law he is leaning on is SB 700, signed in May 2025, which bars charities and fundraisers soliciting in Florida from accepting contributions from people tied to “foreign countries of concern,” a list that includes Cuba and China. Knowing and willful violations carry criminal penalties, according to a Holland & Knight summary of the law. “We will not allow foreign adversaries to influence Florida through the back door of nonprofit fundraising,” Uthmeier said.
A national DSA spokesperson told the Florida Phoenix that the group is “aware of the situation” and has “no comment at this time.”
The subpoena landed a week after DSA-backed Democrat Ashley Herrmann ousted Republican incumbent Danny Alvarez in state House District 69 in Hillsborough County, which Creative Loafing called the first Democratic Socialist elected in Florida.
