Brett Favre Breaks Silence, Proclaims Innocence In Welfare Scandal
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Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre finally breaks his silence. The ex-quarterback has reportedly denied any alleged involvement in the ongoing investigation of welfare fraud in Mississippi. Furthermore, Favre claimed to Fox News Digital that his name has been unjustifiably “smeared” by the media. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight,” Favre said.
“No one ever told me, and I did not know, that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me. I tried to help my alma mater USM [University of Southern Mississippi], a public Mississippi state university, raise funds for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the athletic facilities at my university.”
Favre continued. “State agencies provided the funds to Nancy New’s charity, the Mississippi Community Education Center, which then gave the funds to the University, all with the full knowledge and approval of other State agencies including the State-wide Institute for Higher Learning, the Governor’s office and the Attorney General’s office. I was told that the legal work to ensure that these funds could be accepted by the university was done by State attorneys and State employees.”
Mississippi state auditor Shad White vehemently disagrees with Favre’s assessment of the situation, claiming that the ex-quarterback knew that he was being paid in government funds “based on the texts” that were provided by Mississippi Today. “He knew that those funds were coming from the Department of Human Services. He’s obviously acknowledged that he needed to repay those funds, too,” White said.
The $77 million the state received from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program was originally meant to help the poorest residents of Mississippi. However, officials say that the funds were instead taken away from the poor and given to the state’s most wealthy individuals. Five of the six people arrested in relation to the investigation reportedly pled guilty to the state charges. The auditor called the misspending of the state’s federal welfare funds the “largest public corruption case in the past two decades”.
ESPN has more HERE.
The series of text messages provided by Mississippi Today were reportedly entered as evidence in a lawsuit against former MS Governor Phil Bryant. In the texts, Favre is allegedly revealed to be asking Bryant whether the media would be able to find out where the funds he was going to receive had come from.
Attorneys allege that Bryant was assisting Favre with a proposal for the funding of a new volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Miss. Favre’s daughter reportedly played volleyball for Southern Miss. In the exchange New assures Favre that the funds he receives, the amount and where they came from would not be made public.
For more on the text messages, read about it HERE.
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