Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has sued Mississippi Today, alleging that the online news publication and its CEO defamed him by claiming he “embezzled,” “squandered” and “steered” $77 million in welfare funds “to benefit his family and friends, including NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.”
The Republican former governor has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing in the State’s still-unraveling welfare scandal, and neither state nor federal prosecutors have charged him with a crime. Bryant’s attorney says no state or federal investigators have contacted him. No public reporting to date, including from Mississippi Today, has definitively shown that he directed welfare dollars toward illegal projects.
Former NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack founded the Ridgeland-based Mississippi Today, which is now part of a planned chain under the Deep South Today umbrella, in 2016. Bryant attended the publication’s launch party in downtown Jackson, but has since been at odds with the publication over its reporting since 2020 that has focused on allegations that he played a substantial role in the illegal misspending of $77 million in federal welfare dollars. Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe’s Backchannel series “uncovers the depth of former Gov. Phil Bryant’s involvement within a sprawling welfare scandal,” the publication says in its SEO summary of the Backchannel series that appears in search engine results.
Click the thumbnail to read former Gov. Phil Bryant’s complaint against Mississippi Today.
The facts listed in the complaint, which Bryant’s lawyer filed in Madison County Circuit Court Wednesday, begin by reciting remarks Wolfe made to former Democratic U.S. House Rep. Ronnie Shows on his radio program on Dec. 16, 2021.
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“I think the big questions that I have now that I’m trying to answer are the big questions that everyone has about how far up the chain this is going to go. And if the people that are investigating this and have the power to do something about it, if they’re really going after everyone they should, and everyone who should be held accountable, namely the former governor, Phil Bryant,” Wolfe said during the interview.
Though she is not listed as a defendant, Bryant’s lawsuit