Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: Mississippi's state auditor referred a case to the attorney general involving NFL's Brett Favre, wrestling's Ted DiBiase and others who received millions in allegedly illicit welfare funds.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

On Oct. 12, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White sent Brett Favre a letter demanding he pay the remaining $828,000 he owes to the state after he accepted $1.1 million in allegedly embezzled Temporary Assistance For Needy Families dollars to give speeches.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Mississippi's ex-Human Services director, John Davis, allegedly helped facilitate the largest welfare fraud case in history. He's accused of moving millions in TANF funds to a non-profit run by Nancy New, who paid Favre and others millions for speeches.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Neither Favre nor Ted DiBiase have been accused of criminal wrongdoing, but Auditor White demanded in October that they and the others repay all TANF funds they received by Nov. 12.

The auditor says none did so and referred the matter to AG Lynn Fitch.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

The auditor’s office said recuperating the millions in welfare funds from Brett Favre, Ted DiBiase & others is now up to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office.

But she has contracted with a private attorney to handle it.mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Asked why AG Fitch would hire Pigott to handle the nonpayments stemming from the DHS fraud case, the auditor's office said they did not know and that it was a question for the attorney general’s office. Fitch's office didn't answer a request for comment.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

I obtained a copy of the contract Fitch signed with MDHS and Pigott Law, P.A., to handle the case involving Favre and others who received the allegedly embezzled TANF funds.

It includes no mentions of enforcement mechanisms or billable rates.

PDF: mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/upl…

Full disclosure: Attorney Brad Pigott, whose firm Attorney General Fitch hired to handle the MDHS payments issue, has previously donated to the Mississippi Free Press. That had no influence on this reporting.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

AG Fitch is far from the only Mississippi Republican with ties to Favre. The quarterback supported the former governor, Phil Bryant, and later the current governor, Tate Reeves, during his 2019 campaign.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Brett Favre represented Prevacus, a pharmaceutical company, when he brought Prevacus leaders and then-Gov. Bryant together in 2018 and 2019 to discuss bringing the company to Mississippi to produce a concussion drug.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Weeks after Prevacus met with Brett Favre and Gov. Bryant, prosecutors allege that the non-profit leaders who paid Favre $1.1 million in TANF dollars, Zach and Nancy New, took $2.15 million in illicit TANF dollars and personally invested in Prevacus.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

Neither former Gov. Bryant, Brett Favre nor any Prevacus leaders have been accused by prosecutors of any wrongdoing in relation to the News' use of TANF funds for personal Prevacus investments.

The News and Davis face multiple federal and state charges.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

In May 2020, Brett Favre said he did know that the $1.1 million he received came from ill-gotten welfare funds and vowed to pay it back. But by October 2021, he had only paid back $500,000.

The state auditor demanded the rest plus interest on Oct. 12.mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

After State Auditor Shad White sent a demand letter to Brett Favre for $828,000, he repaid $600,000.

Favre accused White of "never ... meeting with me" & accused him of "only running to the media" and "prioritizing sensational headlines."
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

“These are lies, @BrettFavre. I am not going to hide how much you were paid, why you were paid, or conduct back room meetings to make this go away,” Mississippi Auditor Shad White tweeted at Favre. ... You have met with agents who work for me."mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

As in the past, the Mississippi Free Press reached out to Brett Favre for comment through his agent, Bus Cook, but did not receive an answer.

If we hear back from him or from AG Lynn Fitch, we will update this story.
mississippifreepress.org/18254/mississi…

As a nonprofit news org, we at the Mississippi Free Press rely on support from readers like you to help continue our mission of going beyond partisanship to identify causes & solutions.

Follow us @MSFreePress and help us continue this work by giving at mfp.ms/donate.