Brett Favre, Mississippi auditor feud on Twitter over remaining interest from welfare case
Hall of Famer Brett Favre repaid most of what he owed the state of Mississippi after accepting improper welfare funds in 2020 earlier this week, but he isn’t backing down on the interest he still owes.
The longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback got into a Twitter feud with Mississippi’s state auditor over the remaining $228,000 in interest he still owes and the paid speeches the state said Favre didn’t show up to give.
How speeches would have helped the at-need Mississippians still isn’t clear. Mississippi has said that if Favre doesn’t pay the remaining interest he owes by mid-November that they will pursue a civil lawsuit.
Favre denies ‘no-show’ events, State auditor hits back on his ‘lies’
Favre was named in a state audit in 2020 after accepting $1.1 million from the federal government’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The mistake was part of a more than $94 million scandal of improperly spent federal money for at-need Mississippians.
How his appearances could help residents in one of the poorest states in the country still isn’t clear.
Favre initially said that he did in fact make the appearances, and that he didn’t realize where the money had came from. He immediately returned $500,000 to Mississippi and claimed he’d return the rest in installments.
That, though, didn’t happen until earlier this month — when Mississippi sent him a letter threatening him with a lawsuit if he didn’t repay the final $600,000 plus interest he owed.
Favre finally repaid the $600,000 this week, but has yet to pay the interest.
On Friday morning, Favre insisted that he wouldn't ever “accept money for no-show appearances,” and that he was paid for three years of commercials.
Despite all efforts to seek clarification with the auditor, he has never granted a call back or a meeting with me, but has instead only repeatedly run to the media.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) October 29, 2021
It didn’t take long, though, for Mississippi state auditor Shad White to hit back and call out Favre for his “lies.”
These are lies, @BrettFavre. I am not going to hide how much you were paid, why you were paid, or conduct back room meetings to make this go away.
1/n— Shad White (@shadwhite) October 29, 2021
White wrote specifics of the contract Favre apparently agreed to for the $1.1 million in welfare money, which he says included three total speaking engagements, one radio interview and one keynote speaking engagement.
He also said that one of Favre’s accountants confirmed that this was the agreed upon contract, and that Favre himself confirmed that he didn’t do this.
“You did not give the speeches,” White said. “You have acknowledged this in statements to my agents.
“To suggest my office has not met with you is a lie as well. You have met with agents who work for me. They showed you the contract. They showed you the emails confirming the contract quoted above is how you were paid.”
To suggest I have only communicated this to you via the media is wrong. I’m doing my job—that’s it. You can continue to use your megaphone as a celebrity to drown out the facts, but it will not change the facts.
5/n— Shad White (@shadwhite) October 29, 2021
Favre is not facing any criminal charges over the incident. A civil lawsuit, however, is something Mississippi sounds ready to pursue to get the remaining interest.