Brett Favre has been the subject of a Mississippi welfare scandal and now more so than ever. Here’s what has happened with the developing story.
There has long been a connection between former Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre and a scandal involving Mississippi’s welfare fund. Favre has already been ordered to pay back money he received but the more recent developments have stated that he played a role in channeling funds to help build a new athletic facility at his alma mater, Southern Miss.
Over this time, Favre has denied being aware of the money involved and, essentially, has downplayed his overall involvement in the scheme that involved former Governor Phil Bryant and non-profit organizer Nancy New, among others. However, a bombshell report from Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today reveals that might not be the case as text messages were released that included Favre’s involvement in the matter.
So with this latest revelation, here is a breakdown of what we know and everything that’s going on.
Brett Favre Mississippi welfare scandal: How much money did Favre take?
The court documents that contained the newly released text messages and are being reported upon state that Favre, Bryant, New and others helped to channel “at least $5 million” from the state’s welfare fund toward their preferred causes, essentially taking money from families in poverty in the poorest state in the country to fund personal causes and desires.
What did Brett Favre use Mississippi welfare funds for?
According to these reports, the money that was funneled from the Mississippi welfare fund was used to help build a new volleyball stadium at Southern Miss, where Favre went to school and played football. More importantly, his daughter was also playing volleyball at the university at the time.
How much did Brett Favre know about the money he was taking?
This is the biggest revelation from the latest reports.
For years, Favre has denied any contact with Bryant or any knowledge about where the money was coming from. The text messages that were released in this report, however, fully contradict that as he wanted to hear that Bryant was on board with the idea and seemingly be made assure that the public would not be made aware of where the money was coming from.
Additionally, there were more texts involving Favre and the former governor talking about the construction and the ways to fund the build in addition to helping him throughout the process of getting the new building construction underway.
Could Brett Favre face prison time for Mississippi Welfare scandal?
It remains unclear what further punishment could be coming towards Favre given the text messages that were brought into court proceedings this week.
The former NFL quarterback has already been required to repay $1.1 million in funds that were given to him for speeches that he never made, a total he still owes more than $225,000 in interest on, according to reports.
New has already been charged criminally on 13 felony counts for the welfare scandal, though Favre and Bryant have not. Given the bombshell nature of the text messages, however, it’s entirely possible that could be coming, but it is not yet confirmed.
