Attorneys for the State of Mississippi interrogated retired NFL star Brett Favre for more than nine hours in a secret deposition about the State’s $77-million welfare scandal in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Monday.
Between 2017 and 2019, Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis and nonprofit operator Nancy New directed millions in Temporary Assistance For Needy Families funds to Favre, a pharmaceutical business he was heavily invested in and a volleyball stadium he wanted built at his alma mater. The athlete has denied knowing the money came from welfare funds, however, and is among dozens of people or organizations the State says received illicit funds.
Click the screencap to see the judge’s protective order.
Favre has not been charged with a crime but is a defendant in a civil suit as the Mississippi Department of Human Services fights to recoup millions in misspent TANF funds. The former quarterback’s deposition was behind closed doors, so neither the State lawyers’ questions nor his answers are public knowledge. It is unlikely that the transcript will become public anytime soon. In October, a Hinds County Circuit Court judge agreed to a request from the State, Favre and other defendants to issue a protective order sealing certain discovery documents—like the deposition transcript.
The State originally scheduled the deposition to take place at Hattiesburg’s Indigo Hotel in October just before the statewide elections, but the State rescheduled it for Dec. 11 without making the new location public.
Hattiesburg Patriot Editor Tom Garmon told the Mississippi Free Press this morning that he “became aware” that the deposition was scheduled to take place at a Primerica business office in Hattiesburg starting on Monday morning. Mike Landrum, who like Favre once played football for the University of Southern Mississippi’s Golden Eagles, owns the business.
Garmon said he arrived at the Primerica office early on Monday morning and that he was the lone member of the media there. He saw Favre arrive at around 8 a.m. and leave at 5:30 p.m., he said. A video he shared with the Mississippi Free Press shows Favre leaving the office at dusk as