Favre tries to expand his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi auditor over welfare spending
JACKSON, ma’am. — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is seeking to expand its defamation lawsuit against Mississippi auditor Shad White with a book White wrote about it misspending welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the US
White’s book, “Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America,” was published in August. Favre’s lawyers wrote in court on Friday that the title and content are defamatory.
“The book itself falsely states, among other things, that Favre ‘took money that he knew should go to people in ‘shelters,'” and that he “tried to hide that fact from the media and the public,” and also accuses Favre of committing the crime of money laundering,” Favre’s attorneys wrote.
White has said he is paying his own legal bills in the defamation case.
“Favre’s frivolous lawsuit has cost my family and me personally tens of thousands of dollars, but I will not shy away from telling the truth,” White said in a text message to The Associated Press in response to the lawsuit. “Favre will lose this case, just like he lost the others.”
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch stopped representing white in the defamation case early this year after the announcement that White, a fellow Republican, was writing a book about the sprawling welfare case. White wrote that Fitch delayed an effort to recover misspent money and then recommended the state hire private lawyers for the job.
Favre will not face criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or companies the state is suing in an effort to recoup misspent money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
White said in 2020 that Favre received speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare funds with the approval of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, but that Favre never showed up to give the speeches. The money had to go to a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.
Favre has repaid $1.1 millionbut White has said the Pro Football Hall of Fame member is still owed about $730,000 interest led to growth for the original amount he owed.
Favre filed defamation lawsuits in February 2023 against White and two former NFL players turned sports broadcasters, Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee, over comments they all made about him and welfare misspents.
A federal appeals court on September 16 declined to revive Favre’s lawsuit against Sharpewhich a district court judge had rejected.
In May 2023, Favre dropped his lawsuit against McAfee McAfee apologized because he said Favre “stole from poor people in Mississippi.”