Brett Favre Denies Knowingly Taking Money from Mississippi Welfare Fund, Says Media Smeared Him

For months stories have been circulating that the millions of dollars that former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre was knowingly involved in an illegal effort to divert money from a Mississippi welfare fund to the athletic department at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Now Favre is speaking out and denying he had any knowledge of where the funds he was receiving were coming from.

Favre helped raise five million dollars to fund a volleyball wellness center for the university his daughter was attending. But prosecutors say that the money was illegally diverted through the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC) from Mississippi’s federal welfare program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare fund.

The MCEC’s director, Nancy New, has already been indicted for her part in illegally diverting the TANF funds to non-welfare use, but text messages entered into a court proceeding show that Miss. Gov. Phil Bryant and Favre had spoken to each other on numerous occasions about the money being donated to the university.

The case has far-reaching consequences. While neither Gov. Bryant nor Favre have been charged with any wrongdoing, New and her son, along with former Mississippi welfare director John Davis have all been convicted on charges stemming from the fraud and each has begun working with prosecutors to indict more people.

As for Favre, he is denying the whole thing.

“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre told Fox News Digital. “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. 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 continued.

“State agencies provided the funds to Nancy New’s charity, the Mississippi Community Education Center, which then gave the funds to the University, all with the full knowledge and approval of other State agencies, including the State-wide Institute for Higher Learning, the Governor’s office and the Attorney General’s office,” the NFL great said. “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.”

According to state auditor Shad White, the volleyball facility was supposed to be open for use by the poor in the Hattiesburg area, but that the university has never opened the center for anyone outside the school.

Furthermore, federal rules are supposed to prohibit TANF funding from being used for construction projects of any kind, even those that are supposed to benefit the poor.

The state auditor also says messages clearly show that Favre knew the funds were coming from John Davis.

“Based on the documents that have come out publicly, mainly through filings in the civil case, we can see text messages that show that Mr. Favre knew that the money that was being paid out was coming from John Davis, who is the head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and also coming from the non-profit that was receiving money from DHS,” White informed Fox News Digital. “So, he knows that it’s government money basically, and he knows that the money is coming from the Department of Human Services.”

White did note that there is no documentation that proves definitively that Favre knew that the money Davis was sending to the university was coming from TANF. Still, White added, “But he did know it was government money, and he did know that it was coming from this agency. And of course, that agency is the agency that is responsible for handling programs that are geared toward helping the poor.”

Other evidence apparently shows that Favre was given $1.1 million for speeches that he never gave. And Favre has repaid at least $600,000 to the state for speeches he never delivered.

Further, while he hasn’t been charged, Favre has been interviewed by the FBI over the welfare fraud case.

One series of damning text messages, though, does seem to show that Favre knew something was not right. In one message, Favre allegedly texted New and told her he was worried that “the media can find out where it came from and how much” money he was receiving from her office.

“No, we never had that information publicized,” New texted back to Favre, according to the court filing. “I understand you being uneasy about that though. Let’s see what happens on Monday with the conversation with some of the folks at Southern. Maybe it will click with them. Hopefully.”

Favre’s lawyer, though, claims that Favre was only trying to keep the media from learning about his personal finances.

“Brett entered into a private agreement to record a publicity pitch for a not-for-profit,” Favre attorney Eric Herschmann told Fox. “Like most celebrities, he didn’t want his source of income to be public. That’s why he asked would it become public.”

“He had no idea that the payment came from TANF and had he known, he never would have accepted that money, Herschmann insisted.

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