Report: Brett Favre will join show with Jason Whitlock, can't speak on welfare scandal
Brett Favre is set to join Jason Whitlock on his weekly show “Fearless” on The Blaze.
Favre will make weekly appearances on the show, as will longtime rival and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp, per the New York Post. Those expecting to hear Favre’s thoughts on the ongoing Mississippi welfare scandal will be disappointed. The 53-year-old remains under a gag order in a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS), according to Front Office Sports.
Favre’s attorneys requested in June for the gag order to be lifted.
“This false publicity likely already has adversely affected Mr. Favre’s ability to receive a fair and impartial trial,” one of Favre’s lawyers wrote in the filing. “The suppression order now prevents Mr. Favre from responding to and trying to mitigate the effect of such publicity and could have the unintended consequence of further tainting the trial against Mr. Favre.”
The FBI initially questioned Favre after former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant allegedly paid him $1.1 million in 2017 and 2018. Bryant paid Favre to give motivational speeches. The money came out of federal welfare funds meant for needy families, and according to the Mississippi state auditor, Favre never gave those speeches. The auditor demanded Favre pay the money back with interest, which he did. In total, Favre has been linked to about $8 million in misappropriated Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.
Former Southern Miss president subpoenaed in connection with Brett Favre investigation
Rodney Bennett, former University of Southern Mississippi president, was issued a subpoena last Friday for communications with Favre, an alum of the university. Favre allegedly obtained funds from the MDHS to fund a new volleyball facility at the university in April 2017.
The MDHS requested Bennett to turn over electronic communications related to Favre’s effort to build the facility at the school, in which his daughter was a member of the volleyball team. Favre allegedly knew use of the money from the MDHS was illegal. He has continuously denied there was an agreement to fund the facility, or that use of the money, which originated from the TANF, was improper.
The subpoena calls for communications Bennett had with not only Favre, but Favre’s wife, Deanna, his friend, Eric “Poncho” James, former longtime attorney Bud Holmes and Bryant, A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported.
Favre has maintained his innocence through the allegations. Favre claimed he’d done nothing wrong in his first comments on the investigation last year.