JACKSON, Ms. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is seeking removal from a Mississippi state lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars in misused welfare funds that were meant to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
A lawyer for Favre filed papers Monday saying the Mississippi Department of Human Services is “baselessly and irresponsibly attempting to blame Favre for his own grossly inappropriate and unlawful handling of social funds and his own failure to properly monitor and control” how organizations used the money.
“Including Favre in this lawsuit has had its intended effect — it has drawn national media attention to this case,” Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, wrote in the filing with the Hinds County Circuit Court.
Herschmann wrote that the lawsuit focuses on Social Services’ “false insinuations about Favre’s alleged involvement” rather than the agency, “which is, in fact, responsible for allowing this scandal to happen.”
It was not immediately clear how soon Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson would consider the request.
Favre faces no criminal charges. He is one of more than three dozen people or companies being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services as it attempts to recover some of the money misspent in the state’s largest-ever public corruption case. The department filed the lawsuit in May, saying the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million from the temporary assistance program for needy families.
Favre grew up in Mississippi and played football at the University of Southern Mississippi before embarking on a long career with the Green Bay Packers that included a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. He was traded to the New York Jets in 2008 and played there for a year before playing his last two seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.
Favre has repaid $1.1 million he received in speaking fees from the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit organization that spent TANF money with Department of Human Services approval. But state auditor Shad White said Monday Favre still owes $228,000 in interest.
White’s office has been investigating social spending. In response to questions Monday about Favre seeking to be dismissed from the civil suit, White told The Associated Press: “Each party to the civil suit is free to bring forward the arguments they want to make, and I’m not going to comment. to give. on them. The legal system can go through the case and the judge can decide who pays back what.”
A former director of the Department of Human Services, John Davis, pleaded guilty in September to federal and state charges related to wrongful spending on Social Security benefits.
Mississippi Community Education Center director Nancy New pleaded guilty in April to charges of misspending welfare money, as did her son Zachary New, who helped run the center. Like Davis, they are awaiting sentencing and have agreed to testify against others.
In a lawsuit on Sept. 12, an attorney for the Mississippi Community Education Center released several text messages about $5 million in welfare money going to a volleyball facility Favre wanted built at his alma mater, the university. of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport. The messages were between Nancy New and Favre, between Favre and former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, and between Bryant and New. The posts were from 2017 to 2019, when Republican Bryant was still governor.
That lawsuit stated that the nonprofit center agreed to pay Favre $1.1 million “for a few radio spots” to help fund the volleyball arena, which was also dubbed a campus wellness center.
Another lawsuit in September included text messages showing that Favre was trying to get extra welfare money for an indoor practice facility for the University of Southern Mississippi football team. Bryant told him that federal money for low-income children and adults is “strictly controlled” and that “improper use could result in violation of federal law.”
