Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has asked to be removed from a lawsuit by the state of Mississippi regarding the misuse of state welfare funds, according to the Associated Press.
Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, filed papers for dismissal in Hinds County Circuit Court on Monday saying the Mississippi Department of Human Services “groundlessly and irresponsibly seeks to blame Favre for its own grossly improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds and its own failure to properly monitor and audit” how organizations used the money.
“Including Favre in this lawsuit has had the intended effect — it has attracted national media attention to this case,” Herschmann wrote in the filing.
Herschmann continued, saying that the Mississippi lawsuit focuses on the welfare agency’s “false insinuations concerning Favre’s supposed involvement” rather than on the agency itself, “which in fact is responsible for allowing this scandal to occur.”
The request will now go to Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson, though it remains unclear how soon she might consider the dismissal.
Favre is one of several people being sued by the state to recover more than $20 million in misspent state funds that were intended to help people on welfare. According to Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today, text messages show Favre worked with nonprofit founder Nancy New and former welfare agency director John Davis to redirect $5 million in state welfare funds to build a new volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. He also reportedly asked for money to also build a new indoor practice facility for Southern Mississippi’s football team, where he played before his NFL career.
New has already pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts, while Davis has pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the fraud case, in which at least $77 million earmarked for needy recipients was misspent, according to Wolfe.
Favre is not facing criminal charges.
New is helping the prosecution as part of her plea deal and says she worked to help Favre at the instruction of former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant. The text messages also show that Favre reportedly received a separate $1.1 million welfare contract to promote the Mississippi Community Education Center, with Favre offering to “record a few radio spots.”
Favre said he did not know that the funds he and the university received were designated for welfare recipients.
“No one ever told me, and I did not know that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me,” Favre said in a statement to Fox News last month. “I tried to help my alma mater USM, 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.”
The 53-year-old also said that he repaid the $1.1 million he received to promote the Mississippi Community Education Center after learning that the money came from welfare funds.
“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,” he said. “After I found out the money I was paid for fundraising radio spots came from federal welfare funds, I returned all of it.”
State auditor Shad White said Monday that Favre still owes $228,000 in interest. In response to questions about the move to dismiss Favre’s involvement in the lawsuit, White told the AP: “Every party in the civil case is free to make the arguments that they would like to make, and I’m not going to comment on them. The court system can see the case through, and the judge can determine who owes what back.”
Editors’ note, Nov. 29, 2:45 p.m ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Favre did not record radio spots for Mississippi Community Education Center. In fact, he did record a radio spot that ran in 2018.
