Brett Favre will testify under oath in Mississippi welfare scandal civil case

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre will reply questions below oath concerning the misspending of federal welfare cash in Mississippi, the place public cash supposed to assist among the nation’s poorest folks was used to fund pet initiatives he and different well-connected folks supported.

A discover of deposition filed Monday in Hinds County Circuit Court docket by attorneys for Mississippi’s Division of Human Companies exhibits Favre will give sworn testimony on Oct. 26 at a resort in Hattiesburg. The NFL Corridor of Famer is amongst greater than three dozen defendants in a lawsuit the present Human Companies director filed to get well among the welfare cash.

Favre has denied wrongdoing, sued the state auditor who investigated the misspending for defamation and mentioned he paid again misspent welfare funds.

Mississippi has ranked among the many poorest states within the U.S. for many years, however solely a fraction of its federal welfare cash has been going towards direct assist to households. As a substitute, the Mississippi Division of Human Companies allowed well-connected folks to use up $77 million in federal welfare funds from 2016 to 2019, in response to the state auditor and state and federal prosecutors.

As a substitute of going to needy households, about $5 million helped fund a volleyball area that Favre supported at his alma mater, the College of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, mentioned Mississippi Auditor Shad White, whose workplace investigated the scandal. Favre’s daughter performed volleyball on the faculty. One other $1.7 million went to the event of a concussion therapy drug, a mission Favre supported.

No legal expenses have been introduced towards Favre, though a former division director and different folks have pleaded responsible to their half within the misspending. Favre has requested the Hinds County Circuit Court docket and the Mississippi Supreme Court docket to take away him as a defendant within the civil lawsuit, however each requests had been denied.

The deposition will likely be carried out by oral examination earlier than a court docket reporter and could also be video-recorded. A confidentiality order authorized by the court docket would maintain all the testimony personal for not less than 30 days after its completion date, court docket information present.

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Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Comply with him at @mikergoldberg.