JACKSON, ma’am. — Mississippi’s state auditor filed court papers Monday renewing his call for Brett Favre to reimburse the state for Social Security money that the auditor says was improperly spent on projects supported by the retired NFL quarterback.
Favre accountant Shad White’s demand for nearly $730,000 is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle over money aimed at helping some of the poorest people in one of the nation’s poorest states.
Favre, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who lives in Mississippi, filed lawsuits in February 2023 accusing White and two national sportscasters of defaming him in public discussions about misspent benefits.
White said in 2020 that Favre improperly received $1.1 million in speaker fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare expenses with approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program went 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 had no legal right to possess or control this $1.1 million,” White’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuit Monday.
Favre paid back $500,000 to the state in May 2020 and $600,000 in October 2021, but the new lawsuit says he still owed $729,790 because interest caused the growth of the original amount he owed.
“It boggles the mind that Mr. Favre could imagine being entitled to the equivalent of an interest-free loan of $1.1 million of taxpayer money, especially money intended for the benefit of the poor,” White said in a statement Monday declaration.
The Associated Press left voicemail messages for two of Favre’s attorneys on Monday, but they did not immediately respond.
In October, a federal judge dismissed Favre’s defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe, a former NFL player who is now a broadcaster. In May, Favre dropped his lawsuit against sportscaster Pat McAfee, a former NFL gambler, after McAfee apologized for on-air statements that Favre “stole from poor people in Mississippi.”
Favre’s defamation lawsuit against White is ongoing, and White’s filing on Monday was a counterclaim in that lawsuit.
Mississippi prosecutors have said that between 2016 and 2019, millions of federal welfare dollars for low-income residents were wasted on projects backed by wealthy or well-connected people.
A lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Department of Human Services alleged that TANF money was improperly spent, including on projects Favre supported: $5 million for the volleyball arena and $1.7 million for drug development for the treatment of concussion.
No criminal charges have been filed against Favre, although a former department director and other people have pleaded guilty for their part in the misspending.