The hole Brett Favre is in continues to get deeper by the week.
Text messages made public this month shined a light on former NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s alleged role in a welfare scheme as he remains embroiled in a civil lawsuit. The text messages filed in court show that former Gov. Phil Bryant helped Favre in his alleged scheme to divert federal welfare money to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi, with a price tag of more than $5 million.
On Saturday, ESPN published a piece that showed Favre was even told how illegal it was to misuse welfare funds and he still pressed others to do so.
Via the report:
“On July 28, 2019, Bryant texted Favre that the founder of a nonprofit who paid him “has some limited control over Federal Funds in the form of Grants for Children and adults in the Low Income Community.”
“Use of these funds [is] tightly controlled,” Bryant wrote, according to the filing. “Any improper use could result in violation of Federal Law. Auditors are currently reviewing the use of these funds.”
Still, Favre continued to push for a $6 million volleyball facility, according to the 62-page filing that objects to a subpoena for the former governor’s documents in a lawsuit stemming from the state scandal.
According to the filing, Favre texted Bryant on Sept. 4, 2019, after a meeting they and others had to discuss requesting an additional $1.8 million to $2 million for programs at the new facility.
“We obviously need your help big time and time is working against us,” Favre wrote. “And we feel that your name is the perfect choice for this facility and we are not taking No for an answer! You are a Southern Miss Alumni, and folks need to know you are also a supporter of the University.”
Bryant responded, according to the filing: “We are going to get there. This was a great meeting. But we have to follow the law. I am to[o] old for Federal Prison.”
A lawyer representing Bryant told ESPN that the filing shows that Favre “continued to press for state funds, first from DHS and later in a legislative appropriation.”
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“Bryant told Favre that any DHS expenditure would have to be approved by the state auditor,” Quin said.
The texts also reveal that Bryant guided Favre in writing a funding proposal that would be approved by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, per Mississippi Today.
A state audit in 2020 found that Mississippi misspent tens of millions of dollars of welfare funds, including $1.1 million that went to Favre for speaking engagements he did not attend.
One wonders if Favre will find himself behind bars for his behavior.
