Brett Favre requesting dismissal from Mississippi welfare lawsuit

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is requesting to be excluded from a lawsuit by the state of Mississippi that is attempting to recover millions of dollars in misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
Favre’s attorney said on Monday that the Mississippi Department of Human Services was trying to “blame Favre for its own grossly improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds and its own failure to properly monitor and audit” how organizations used the money.
“The inclusion of Favre in this lawsuit has had the intended effect of attracting national media attention to the case,” Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, wrote in the filing in Hinds County Circuit Court.
“The lawsuit focuses on the welfare agency’s “false insinuations concerning Favre’s supposed involvement” rather than on the agency, “which in fact is responsible for allowing this scandal to occur,” wrote Herschmann.
Favre requests to be dismissed from Mississippi welfare lawsuit.

“On Monday, an attorney for Favre filed papers saying that the Mississippi Department of Human Services groundlessly and irresponsibly seeks to blame Favre for their own improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds, as well as their failure to properly monitor and audit how organizations use the money.”
“The inclusion of Favre in this lawsuit has had the desired effect – it has attracted national media attention to the case,” Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, wrote in a filing in Hinds County Circuit Court.
“The lawsuit focuses on the welfare agency’s ‘false insinuations concerning Favre’s supposed involvement’ rather than on the agency, ‘which in fact is responsible for allowing this scandal to occur,'” Herschmann wrote.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson did not immediately make it clear how soon she might consider the request.
He is not facing criminal charges. More than three dozen people or companies are being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, including him, as it seeks to recover a portion of the money misspent in the state’s largest-ever public corruption case. Saying the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program, the department filed the lawsuit in May.
Brett Favre, who grew up in Mississippi and played football at the University of Southern Mississippi, had a long career with the Green Bay Packers that included a win in Super Bowl XXXI. He played for the New York Jets in 2008 and then for the Minnesota Vikings for his final two seasons.
The Mississippi Community Education Center spent TANF money with approval from the Department of Human Services and Favre has repaid $1.1 million he received for speaking fees from the organization. Favre still owes $228,000 in interest, state Auditor Shad White said Monday.
The welfare spending has been investigated by White’s office. ”
“Every party in the civil case is free to make the arguments that they would like to make,” White told The Associated Press in response to questions Monday about Favre seeking to be dismissed from the civil lawsuit. “I’m not going to comment on them.” The court system can see the case through, and the judge can determine who is owed what.
John Davis, a former Department of Human Services director, pleaded guilty in September to federal and state charges tied to the welfare misspending.
Nancy New, the director of the Mississippi Community Education Center, and her son Zachary New, who helped run the center, both pleaded guilty in April to charges of misspending welfare money. They, like Davis, await sentencing and have agreed to testify against others.
An attorney for the Mississippi Community Education Center released several text messages in a Sept. 12 court filing in the civil lawsuit about $5 million in welfare money that went toward a volleyball facility that Favre was seeking to get built at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter was playing the sport. Haley Barbour
Nancy New and Favre exchanged messages, as did Favre and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. Between Phil Bryant and New.