On Monday, Brett Favre’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss a complaint against the former NFL quarterback and his company Favre Enterprise from the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
The motion was filed on Favre’s behalf by attorney Eric Herschmann in the circuit court of Hinds County in Mississippi’s first judicial district.
“Brett Favre has done nothing wrong. MDHS [Mississippi Department of Human Services] does not and cannot allege that he did, and its claims against him and his company must be dismissed,” the motion begins. “It is apparent that MDHS has sued Favre, a Mississippi and national celebrity, in an effort to deflect responsibility for its own egregious wrongdoing in allowing $94 million of its public funds to be misspent—funds for which MDHS itself admits it was ‘exclusively responsible.’ There is no factual or legal basis to include Favre in this lawsuit or for the torrent of the unjustified negative publicity concerning Favre that MDHS has outrageously instigated—publicity that properly should be directed at MDHS, not Favre.”
Favre was sued by the state this past May. He has been wrapped up in the Mississippi welfare scandal and is one of more than three dozen companies being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services as they look to recoup $24 million of the $77 million in federal welfare money, according to Mississippi Today.
Favre himself received more than $1 million in funds for promotional work, which he has since repaid. He was also an investor in Prevacus, Inc., a concussion treatment and prevention company, and they received $2.1 million.
Favre has repeatedly denied knowledge that these were welfare funds since this story came to light in 2020. Favre’s motion says that he already repaid this money, and that the repayment was acknowledged by State Auditor Shad White.
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“Once Favre was informed that he had received TANF money, he voluntarily returned it, completing the repayment more than six months before MDHS filed this lawsuit, and leading State Auditor White to “applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” the motion says. “In other words, Favre has already repaid to MDHS the only funds MDHS alleges he received.”
The motion also adds that Favre was not the “recipient” of the money that the state is seeking to reclaim as it pertains to Prevacus.
“As to the $2.1 million payment, Section 27(1) permits MDHS to recover only from a ‘recipient’ of a wrongful payment. The Complaint alleges that Prevacus was the recipient of the payment, and MDHS’s claim to recover it from Favre must also be dismissed,” the motion says.
The motion maintained that the Hall of Fame quarterback “did nothing wrong.”
“There is no factual or legal basis to include Favre in this lawsuit or for the torrent of the unjustified negative publicity concerning Favre that MDHS has outrageously instigated—publicity that properly should be directed at MDHS, not Favre,” the motion says.
Back in October, Favre spoke out for the first time when he pushed back on the criticism of the alleged role in the scandal.
“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight.”
Favre has not been criminally charged in the case.
