Brett Favre Wants to Be Removed From Welfare Lawsuit

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is asking to be removed from a lawsuit by the state of Mississippi that seeks to recover millions of dollars in misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the US. An attorney for Favre filed papers on Monday saying the Mississippi Department of Human Services “groundlessly and irresponsibly seeks to blame Favre for its own grossly improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds and its own failure to properly monitor and audit” how organizations used the money, the AP reports. “Including Favre in this lawsuit has had the intended effect—it has attracted national media attention to this case," Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, wrote in the filing in Hinds County Circuit Court.

Herschmann wrote that the lawsuit focuses on the welfare agency's “false insinuations concerning Favre's supposed involvement” rather than on the agency, “which in fact is responsible for allowing this scandal to occur.” It was not immediately clear how soon Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson might consider the request. Favre is not facing criminal charges. He is among more than three dozen people or companies being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services as it seeks to recover a portion of the money misspent in the state's largest-ever public corruption case. The department filed the lawsuit in May, saying the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program.

Favre has repaid $1.1 million he received for speaking fees from the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group that spent TANF money with approval from the Department of Human Services. But state Auditor Shad White said Monday that Favre still owes $228,000 in interest. White's office has investigated the welfare spending. In response to questions Monday about Favre seeking to be dismissed from the civil lawsuit, White told the AP: “Every party in the civil case is free to make the arguments that they would like to make, and I'm not going to comment on them. The court system can see the case through, and the judge can determine who owes what back.” (Favre last month blamed the "unjust" media for his predicament.)