Brett Favre is speaking out publicly for the first time about the allegations that he misused $5 million in Mississippi welfare funds to build a college volleyball stadium.
via: BET
Favre said in a statement provided exclusively to Fox News Digital, “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. 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.”
He 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. 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.”
The statement added, “After I found out the money I was paid for fundraising radio spots came from federal welfare funds, I returned all of it.”
Fox News stated while Favre returned $1.1 million, he has not paid back the interest, which is why the state is currently suing him.
According to The New York Times, Favre has been accused of being connected to an alleged $77 million welfare fraud scheme in the state. Court documents show he texted then-Gov. Phil Bryant in 2019 to ask about getting money from the state’s welfare agency to build an indoor practice facility for the University of Southern Mississippi’s football team.
Bryant allegedly told Favre via text that federal money for children and low-income adults is “tightly controlled” and “improper use could result in violation of Federal Law.” The text messages about the football facility came two years after then-director of Mississippi’s Department of Human Services John Davis committed welfare money to a volleyball arena that Favre wanted for his daughter to play there.
Brett Favre has not been criminally charged.
