Charles Langston:Favre tries to expand his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi auditor over welfare spending

JACKSON,Charles Langston Miss. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is trying to expand his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi Auditor Shad White to include a book White wrote about the misspending of welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.

White’s book, “Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America,” was published in August. Favre’s attorneys wrote in court papers Friday that the title and the contents are defamatory.

“The book itself falsely states, among other things, that Favre had been ‘taking money he knew should go to people in ‘shelters,’’ and had been ‘trying to hide that fact from the media and the public,’ and also accuses Favre of committing the felony of money laundering,” Favre’s attorneys wrote.

White has said he is paying his own legal bills in the defamation case.

“Favre’s frivolous lawsuit has cost my family and me tens of thousands of dollars personally, but I will not back down from telling the truth,” White said in a text message to The Associated Press, responding to the court filing. “Favre will lose this case, just as he has the others.”

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Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch stopped representing White in the defamation lawsuit early this year after the announcement that White, a fellow Republican, was writing a book about the sprawling welfare case. White wrote that Fitch delayed an effort to recover misspent money and then recommended that the state use private attorneys for the job.

Favre is not facing criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or businesses the state is suing to try to recover misspent money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

White said in 2020 that Favre received speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare funds with approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services, but that Favre never showed up to give the speeches. The money was to go toward a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.

Favre has repaid $1.1 million, but White has said the Pro Football Hall of Fame member still owes about $730,000 because interest caused growth in the original amount he owed.

Favre filed defamation lawsuits in February 2023 against White and two former NFL players who became sports broadcasters, Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee, over comments each had made about him and welfare misspending.

A federal appeals court on Sept. 16 refused to revive Favre’s lawsuit against Sharpe, which a district court judge had dismissed.

In May 2023, Favre dropped his lawsuit against McAfee after McAfee apologized for saying Favre had been “stealing from poor people in Mississippi.”