Brett Favre on Mississippi welfare scandal: 'I have done nothing wrong'
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre has broken a nearly one-month silence on the Mississippi welfare fund scandal in which he is embroiled.
In a statement to Fox News to "set the record straight," Favre claimed he has "done nothing wrong."
"I have been unjustly smeared in the media. I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight.
"No one ever told me, and I did not know, that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me," he said. "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."
Favre has been accused of working with then-Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant to obtain $5 million from Mississippi welfare funds to build the venue at his alma mater -- where his daughter played volleyball. He's also been accused of collecting over $1 million in welfare funds for public speaking engagements that he allegedly blew off.
In mid-September, a story by Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today showed text messages between Favre and Bryant, seemingly collaborating the scheme. The messages were entered into a Mississippi state civil lawsuit and appeared to show texts between the Green Bay Packers legend and Bryant to a woman named Nancy New, who pleaded guilty to misusing public welfare money in April.
“I could record a few radio spots,” Favre texted New, according to the reporting “…and whatever compensation could go to USM.”
"If you were to pay me is there any way the media can find out where it came from and how much?" he also texted.
New told Favre that her nonprofit doesn't disclose that information. A day later she texted him: "Wow, Just got off the phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!"
Favre's attorney, however, told Fox News, "Like most celebrities, he didn't want his source of income to be public."
"He had no idea that the payment came from (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)," Eric Herschmann said, "and had he known he never would have accepted that money."
It was also reported in late September that $130,000 from the 11-time Pro Bowler's "Favre 4 Hope" charity was funneled to USM athletics from 2018 to 2020. Founded by Favre and his wife, Deanna Favre, in 1995, the foundation provides "financial assistance" to services for disadvantaged youth and cancer patients in Mississippi and Wisconsin.
Favre added in his statement to Fox News, "I have been unjustly smeared in the media."
The 53-year-old has yet to be arrested or criminally charged in the case.
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