When we last heard of Brett Favre, he was embroiled in the massive fraud case regarding improperly distributed TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funds in Mississippi.
In a story first reported by Anna Wolfe from Mississippi Today, Favre was given funding meant for needy families in order to build a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi. That’s Favre’s alma mater and where his daughter plays volleyball.
But that wasn’t his first involvement in misused funds.
Favre was paid $1.1 million for motivational speeches in 2017 and 2018, speeches which he never conducted. In that case, the state demanded the money back, plus interest. He’s paid $600,000 but still refuses to pay the interest.
That situation opened the door, exposing a $77 million welfare fraud case involving big names and powerful people like former Governor Phil Bryant, former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase and others.
Yet Favre is the most prominent name involved, so he was ripped when the news dropped.
Mind you, the claims against him weren’t theoretical. Wolfe had the text messages between Favre and Bryant to prove it.
Now, five months after the case made national headlines, Favre is retaliating.
But he’s not paying the state back. Instead, he filed a lawsuit against multiple parties for defamation of character.
In the lawsuit filed Thursday morning, Favre is suing state Auditor Shad White and sports personalities Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee for, get this- defaming his character.
“Shad White, the State Auditor of Mississippi, has carried out an outrageous media campaign of malicious and false accusations against Brett Favre — the Hall of Fame quarterback and native son of Mississippi — in a brazen attempt to leverage the media attention generated by Favre’s celebrity to further his own political career,” reads Favre’s complaint.
“By shamelessly and falsely attacking Favre’s good name, White has gained national media attention he previously could have only dreamed of, including appearances on television shows on CNN and HBO, a popular ESPN podcast, as well as interviews for print and online media,” continued his complaint. “None of these national media outlets would have paid White the slightest attention had he not been attacking Favre. White himself acknowledged this, admitting that his own wife was “shocked” by his appearance on the ESPN Daily Podcast.”
White is the auditor who first unraveled the fraud scheme. And he’s a republican like Bryant and current Governor Tate Reeves.
Reeves fired attorney Brad Pigott, who was hired by the state to recover the stolen TANF funds, after he issued a subpoena seeking more information about the roles Favre and former Governor Phil Bryant played in the scheme.
White’s office responded to the lawsuit by pointing out that Favre demonstrated his guilt by paying some of the money back when demanded to.
In addition, they have proof that he was involved in the scheme.
”Everything Auditor White has said about this case is true and is backed by years of audit work by the professionals at the Office of the State Auditor,” White’s spokesman Fletcher Freeman said. “It’s mind-boggling that Mr. Favre wants to have a trial about that question. Mr. Favre has called Auditor White and his team liars despite repaying some of the money our office demanded from him. He’s also claimed the auditors are liars despite clear documentary evidence showing he benefitted from misspent funds. Instead of paying New York litigators to try this case, he’d be better off fully repaying the amount of welfare funds he owes the state.”
Favre is obviously upset at the way he’s been lambasted in the media, which is why he’s suing Sharpe and McAfee in particular as they had harsh words to say about him on their programs.
“You got to be a sorry mofo to steal from the lowest of the low,” Sharpe said on Undisputed on Sept. 14, a day after Wolfe first broke the story.
Although Favre vehemently denies he had a role in the fraud case, text messages prove otherwise.
In those messages, Favre, Bryant, and Nancy New, founder of the Mississippi Community Education Center, discussed how to funnel at least $5 million in welfare funds to the volleyball arena at Southern Miss.
The Center was responsible for spending millions in federal welfare funds to help those in need across the state, but New and her son used them to help friends like Favre.
In a 2017 text conversation, Favre asked New, “If you were to pay me is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?”
New responded, “No, we never have had that information publicized. I understand you being uneasy about that though. Let’s see what happens on Monday with the conversation with some of the folks at Southern [Miss]. Maybe it will click with them. Hopefully.”
Federal regulations prohibit states from using TANF funds on physical locations (“brick and mortar”) or building construction, so using them on a volleyball facility was illegal.
They tried to circumvent the regulations by classifying the facility as a lease agreement with the university. They even added offices in the facility and tried to label it a “wellness center” to demonstrate how it was offering helpful services to the Southern Miss community.
Those lies were eventually exposed, after which New and her son pled guilty to 13 felony counts related to their roles in the welfare scheme.
As of now Favre, Bryant and Reeves haven’t been charged, but state officials say Favre is on the hook for $7 million.
We will keep you updated on the situation.
