Texts: Favre also sought welfare money for football facility

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After Mississippi spent millions of dollars in welfare money on Brett Favre’s pet project, a university volleyball arena, the retired NFL quarterback tried two years later to get additional cash from the state’s welfare agency for another sports facility, new court documents show.

The governor at the time, Republican Phil Bryant, texted in 2019 with Favre, who wanted to build an indoor practice facility for the University of Southern Mississippi’s football team. Bryant told him federal money for children and low-income adults is “tightly controlled” and “improper use could result in violation of Federal Law.”

Text messages between Bryant and Favre are in court documents filed Friday by Bryant’s lawyers, which seek to show the governor was willing to help Favre raise private money for the volleyball facility starting in 2017 and was unaware for more than two years that welfare money was going to the project.

Mississippi’s largest-ever public corruption case has ensnared several people, including a pro wrestler whose drug rehab was funded with welfare money.



FILE - Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre speaks to the media in Jackson, Miss., Oct. 17, 2018. The governor of Mississippi in 2017 was “on board” with a plan for a nonprofit group to pay Brett Favre more than $1 million in welfare grant money so the retired NFL quarterback could help fund a university volleyball facility, according to a text messages between Favre and the director of the nonprofit in court documents filed Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/college-football-nfl-sports-education-9ef6d25573195febc5b5a06ccb04b10f?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_06

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. This asshole needs to be behind bars

Link to tweet

[rurallib]

5. future cellmates?

[tishaLA]

2. He also thought prison labor would be great

and would allow them to get more bang for their bucks.

Link to tweet

[dsc]

3. I can see using funds for the drug rehab

provided it works but the rest is out of control.

[Demsrule86]

13. These are I believe three rich guys who didn't want to use their own money to pay their bills.

They stole millions for the Rehab scheme.

[dsc]

15. Well that is a horse of a different color

[rockfordfile]

4. face it he's a crook

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. The state of Mississippi is a welfare state.

With LOW taxes and LOW quality of life as being shown in Jackson, no wonder Mississippi has its hands out for "welfare money."

[AllaN01Bear]

7. who are the wealfare queens ? who milks the system?

[brush]

8. Colin Kaepernick and Michael Vick's stories were slathered all over...

the media for months but this much worse scandal of a white player stealing welfare money for people in the poorest state has been kept almost secret...and is still being underplayed.

The blatant racism can't get more obvious.

[CatWoman]

12. How Brett Favre's Flaws Were Hidden in Plain Sight

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/brett-favre-laundering/

[CatWoman]

23. see post 19

[brush]

24. Ahhhh...me again. This should've went to post 9.

[CatWoman]

25. there is no post 9?

[brush]

26. He/she deleted it. It was all about why is...

everybody picking on Brett Favre when the governor and other big shots in the state were behind it all blah, blah, blah. Guess the push back was too much.

[GP6971]

10. Welcome to DU

I guess.

[littlemissmartypants]

11. Welcome to DU, southernlawyer1. I hope you can stick around for a while. ❤

[CatWoman]

14. you do have a point

How a WWE wrestler, corrupt Mississippi officials, and Brett Favre allegedly siphoned money away from poor people.

The civil lawsuit the state filed to try to claw back some of the funds has 38 defendants, each its own lurid mess. It’s impossible to cover even a fraction of the cases here, but a few details alleged in the suit give a good sense of what was going on:

John Davis’s nephew was paid $400,000 to create “coding academies” for the two nonprofits. He had no experience as a computer programmer and produced nothing.

Davis’s brother-in-law was paid over $600,000 for a nonexistent job and a lease on a nonexistent building.

Marcus Dupree, a former college football phenom, was paid $371,000 to buy a 4,000-square-foot house, with a swimming pool, pavilion, and “adjoining acreage on which Mr. Dupree was to maintain horses.” Dupree claimed in charity filings it would be for “equestrian activities for underprivileged children.”

To capture the full range here: “Illegal Diversions of TANF Funds To Enrich Sports Celebrities” needed its own subheading in the suit.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/24/23368759/mississippi-welfare-fraud-scandal-brett-favre-reform

[walkingman]

16. I think all parties, including the former Gov, need to be held accountable.

No one should be above the law.

The texts between Farve and the Gov. just highlight the efforts to hide their wrongdoing.

I was born in Mississippi and I personally think that of all people to basically steal from it should not have been the poor. The religiosity of Mississippi and it's hypocrisy are one of the primary factors that convinced me to leave the State permanently.

[brush]

17. Come on. Everybody involved deserves blame...

including Farve. See post 8. He's getting off easy so far compared to how Kaepernick and Vick where slaughter by the media.

[CatWoman]

19. The media needs to treat Brett Favre like it did Michael Vick and Colin Kaepernick

In this country, you’ll get more mainstream media coverage for killing dogs — which was really bad, but not as bad as storming the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overthrow a fair election with plans to kill government officials — or kneeling during the national anthem because you’re tired of white cops getting away with murder after they play target practice with Black bodies.

Brett Favre is a trash human being. Jenn Sterger tried to warn people about him years ago. But, being that she’s a woman — she was ignored. (Go do some research on that situation and learn something.) However, what Favre is (barely) in the news for this time around, should be something that ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and even FOX News should be airing around the clock.

Favre’s face should be on every tabloid in New York City, and updates about his case should be scrolling across the bottom of every sports and news network.

Why?

Because this is the norm when Black athletes do something — that’s nowhere as bad — that “upsets people.” I put that part in quotations because most of the time the offended aren’t mad, they just love to participate in false outrage. For instance, before we knew the full depth of horrific things that Jameis Winston was entangled with in the past — which included rape allegations and fondling an Uber driver — his crab legs shoplifting story was so major that CNN covered it.

https://deadspin.com/the-media-needs-to-treat-brett-favre-like-it-did-michae-1849568848

[brush]

20. I think you responded to the wrong post.

I'm the one who posted about the kid gloves treatment Favre got after stealing welfare money compared to Kaepernick and Vick.

You probably meant to respond to Post 9.

[CatWoman]

21. LOL!!!!

does that mean I have to move it?

[brush]

22. Only if you want to. Or just say see Post 19.

[SheltieLover]

27. Absolutely!

[CatWoman]

36. ....

[stollen]

28. Well, Green Bay loves him.

[Omaha Steve]

30. Nope

Not since he came out of retirement as a non-Packer. That photo of his junk didn't help!

OS

[Grins]

29. An "indoor" facility?

In a warm southern state? For a game that is played outdoors…? Really?

[Mr. Evil]

31. This complete asshole (yup, republican)

had to steal money earmarked for the poorest and most needy people to do something nice for his daughter by building a new volleyball arena where she played (Southern Mississippi).

His net worth is over $100M and he had to do something this shitty when he could've easily done it himself. He missed out on being a hero and turned himself into one big zero. Send his ass to prison!

I'll also be willing to bet that he and all the others involved with this were laughing the whole time about how easy it was to steal this money. Fucking Disgusting!

[dchill]

32. This utter asshole is just one reason I couldn't give a shit...

...about "professional" sports. Oh, the actual fucking nerve! I bet he feels like a big championship winner all over again! And the wonderful double fringe benefits of owning the libs AND pilfering welfare funds he just plain doesn't fucking need! WIN WIN!

Brett, I hope you choke on it.

[twodogsbarking]

33. None of this has changed my opinion of Favre.

[we can do it]

34. Another over-privileged white man. Remove this thief from HOF and throw his ass in jail.

[Quanto Magnus]

35. Rich men being greedy

gee.... what a surprise... not...