Could Favre be preparing for an indictment?
Brett Favre appears to be in serious trouble. Over the weekend, Favre quietly switched his legal counsel, seemingly preparing for an indictment. With news of Brett Favre’s involvement in the Mississippi welfare scandal breaking daily, we’ve compiled a chronologically detailed timeline of the events to help clarify what occurred.
Timeline of Events
January 2016: Governor Phil Bryant appoints John Davis to the Mississippi Department of Human Services Executive Director position.
February 2016: Davis announces partnership with Nancy News’ non-profit, the Mississippi Community Education Center.
April 13, 2017: ThinkProgress released a study that 1.42% of 11,700 families who applied for TANF benefits are approved in Mississippi, the lowest acceptance rate in the country.
April 20, 2017: First time Favre reaches out to Bryant about the Volleyball stadium project.
July 2017: John Davis agrees to provide 4 million dollars of support for Favre’s project. In August, Favre would learn he would need an additional million for the stadium’s completion. This number would grow as the project continued. Eventually, the project would cost a total of 6.9 million dollars.
August 3, 2017: Favre texts Nancy New the infamous, “if you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?”
December 2018: Favre nudges Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant for political and financial capital to support the drug Prevacus. Shockingly, Favre was an early pharmaceutical company investor and requested a 3.2 million dollar grant. The company advertised a developmental drug to treat concussions. To date, there is little evidence this drug ever existed.
2019
January 17, 2019: Breleigh Favre participates in her first match with USM Volleyball Team.
May 15, 2019 – Favre texts New that an additional 1.07 million is due for the project.
June 21, 2019: Shad White, a conservative state auditor of Mississippi, receives a tip from Governor Phil Bryant of someone within the department of Mississippi human services getting a “kickback” from welfare funds. But here’s the catch, Governor Bryant sends the tip after MDHS Deputy Director Jacob Black approaches Bryant with an allegation of fraud involving Davis and DiBase Jr.
July 8, 2019 – John Davis announces retirement.
July 16, 2019 – Governor Bryant texts Nancy New, “Can we help him (Favre) with his project? We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.”
“Can we help him (Favre) with his project? We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.”
July 22, 2019 – Governor Bryant informs Favre that Shad White is reviewing all contracts and needs “clearance” to release more funds.
August 24 2019 – Favre texts Gov. Phil Bryant stating, “the indoor volleyball facility could be completed any day now and I’m sure the university will be calling for the remaining 1,048,000.”
September 4, 2019 – Gov. Bryant sends “I am to old for federal prison” text to Favre.
September 6, 2019 – New Mississippi Department of Human Services Executive Director Freeze approves 1 million in funding to Nancy New, but denies 804,213.10, saying this portion violates federal rules.
November 5, 2019 – Tate Reeves win’s Governor’s Race.
December 2019 – USM Volleyball Stadium completed
2020
January 13, 2020 – Prosecutors file indictments against Nancy New.
February 4, 2020 – Prosecutors file more indictments against John Davis and Brett DiBiase.
February 27, 2020 – First news report linking Favre to using TANF funds for the stadium.
April 30, 2020 – Shad White, Mississippi State Auditor, reveals a $1.1 million payment to Favre for public events and speeches but states Farve did not give lectures.
May 6, 2020 – Favre returns $500,000
December 17, 2020 – Brett DiBiase, a former professional wrestler, pleads guilty in Mississippi human services embezzlement scheme.
2021
March 16, 2021 – Federal prosecutors file indictments against Nancy New and her son, Zach New.
October 12, 2021 – State Auditor Shad White demands Favre return $828,000
October 28, 2021 – Favre returns $600,00. But, not the interest on the amount which White has demanded.
October 29, 2021 – Brett Favre defends himself with a flurry of texts, claiming he returned the money and would not have accepted money for no-show events.
Of course the money was returned because I would never knowingly take funds meant to help our neighbors in need, but for Shad White to continue to push out this lie that the money was for no-show events is something I cannot stay silent about.
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) October 29, 2021
2022
April 22, 2022 – Nancy New and her son Zach New plead guilty to welfare misspending. They agree, as part of a plea deal, to testify against others involved. Records show that the News used 4.15 million dollars for their non-profit for personal use.
May 9, 2022 – Mississippi Department of Human Services files a civil lawsuit against 38 people and businesses, including Brett Favre.
July 22, 2022 – Republican Governor Tate Reeves fires Brad Pigott after Pigott issues a subpoena seeking more information about the roles of Favre and the former governor, Phil Bryant.
August 21, 2022 – Breleigh Favre transfers from USM to LSU.
September 17, 2022 – Mississippi Today reports allegations against Former Gov. Phil Bryant.
September 22, 2022 – John Davis, former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director, pleads guilty to conspiring to defraud the State of Mississippi of millions of dollars in federal funds.
September 29, 2022 – Bud Holmes, the former lawyer for Brett Favre, notifies Front Office Sports that Favre has fired him.
For more information and details, Ashton Pittman & William Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press wrote a fantastic, more detailed timeline here. I’d highly recommend giving it a read. But, as always, you can find more accounts of previous accusations against Favre here. As always, keep up with me on twitter @ Josh_Tips or find me on Wisconsin Sports Heroics.
