Mississippi governor’s brother recommended that auditor reward Brett Favre throughout welfare scandal

JACKSON, Miss. — As Brett Favre grew to become ensnared in media consideration for his connection to Mississippi’s sprawling welfare scandal, Gov. Tate Reeves’ brother recommended the state official investigating the case reward the retired NFL quarterback.

Screen pictures of textual content messages launched Thursday by Reeves’ re-election marketing campaign present the governor’s brother, Todd Reeves, passing alongside a request from Favre to Mississippi State Auditor Shad White for a positive assertion concerning the retired star athlete. Todd Reeves texted White on May 6, 2020, months after the auditor introduced in February that prison fees had been introduced towards six individuals accused of diverting welfare cash supposed for a few of the poorest individuals within the nation to the wealthy and highly effective.

Favre has not been charged with against the law. But he has mentioned the media “ unjustly smeared ” him in protection of the scandal, together with about funds he obtained to assist fund his pet challenge – a volleyball area on the college he attended and the place his daughter was enjoying the game.

“If possible, Brett would like you to say something along the lines of ‘the investigation (shows to this point) Brett has done nothing wrong and the monies he is paying back for commercials and Psa’s is from his own good will,’” Todd Reeves texted White.

Another textual content from Todd Reeves mentioned reporters had been “hounding” Favre.

The marketing campaign for Gov. Reeves, a Republican working for reelection, launched the textual content messages to preempt a narrative by information outlet Mississippi Today about Reeves’ brother.

On the identical day Todd Reeves texted White, the auditor launched a press release applauding Favre for repaying $500,000 in cash from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” White mentioned within the 2020 assertion. ”To date, we now have seen no information indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was this system that served because the supply of the cash he was paid.”

In a press release Friday, Fletcher Freeman, a spokesperson for White, mentioned all the things the auditor mentioned in that assertion was true on the time.

“Later, when more evidence was uncovered that showed Mr. Favre knew the money was intended for people in ‘shelters’ and that Mr. Favre sought to hide this from the media, Auditor White openly highlighted this for the public,” Freeman mentioned, referring to the misuse of funds supposed for anti-poverty initiatives like state-funded shelters. “Auditor White has been brutally honest about Mr. Favre’s involvement here each time new evidence comes out, which is why Mr. Favre has repeatedly attacked him.”

In February, Favre sued White and two nationwide sportscasters for defamation.

In its Thursday information launch, Reeves’ marketing campaign additionally shared a press release from Todd Reeves. The governor’s brother mentioned he linked Favre and White to facilitate the compensation of misspent TANF cash.

“I’ve been friendly with Brett for years, and always heard great things about Shad. I didn’t learn anything about this TANF mess or Brett’s dealings with the state until it was front page news,” Todd Reeves mentioned within the assertion. “When Brett was considering repaying the funds, he asked me if I could help him get in touch with the auditor to coordinate that—so that’s what I did.”

To date, Favre has repaid $1.1 million he obtained from a nonprofit that improperly spent TANF funds with approval from the state Department of Human Services. He nonetheless owes $228,000 in curiosity, based on White.

In response to an inventory of questions emailed by The Associated Press, a Reeves spokesperson mentioned the marketing campaign launched each textual content between Todd Reeves and White.

The welfare scandal has change into a flashpoint in Mississippi’s gubernatorial race. Reeves has mentioned he had nothing to do with the scandal, whereas his Democratic opponent, Brandon Presley, has mentioned Reeves didn’t do sufficient to cease it when he was lieutenant governor.

“The Reeves administration has launched lawsuits against everyone who the state believes owes money back, and the only thing that might harm that effort is Democrats lying to make the scandal a campaign issue,” the spokesperson mentioned. “Their claims require belief in time travel. As Todd said in his statement, Brett believed he had done nothing wrong and he was helping to convince him to return the money anyway.”

As just lately as Wednesday, the auditor’s workplace had been preventing Mississippi Today in courtroom to keep away from handing over the textual content messages in response to public information requests. One day later, the governor’s marketing campaign launched texts the auditor hadn’t wished to reveal amid an ongoing investigation. There isn’t any indication the governor’s marketing campaign gave the auditor any advance discover about its choice to launch the messages, and the marketing campaign didn’t reply to a query asking in the event that they did.

The auditor’s workplace had argued that releasing the messages might injury its ongoing investigation into the welfare scandal and compromise efforts to recuperate stolen funds.

“The Auditor’s office has not and will not release any text messages regarding any case because they are part of an investigative file,” Freeman mentioned. “Our job is to investigate stolen or misspent taxpayer funds and then hand the case to prosecutors to do their job.”