Today State Auditor Shad White announced Special Agents from his office have arrested Stephanie Churchill of Benton County. Churchill, a former Town Clerk of Hickory Flat, was indicted for embezzlement by a local grand jury. A $104,256.92 demand letter was presented to Churchill upon her arrest. The demand amount includes interest and investigative expenses.
Churchill is accused of embezzling Hickory Flat’s Water and Sewage Department funds by not depositing the funds collected from water and sewage bills from October 2018 through February 2021.
“This is, once again, another case where money intended to pay for water in a small town was embezzled. It resulted in a big loss for the people of Hickory Flat,” said Auditor White. “My office investigates these matters, identifying the facts, but we only make arrests when prosecutors choose to charge someone. We cannot make that choice for them. We also do not control sentences. Courts do that. But when we all work together, taxpayers see results, like in this case.”
If convicted of all charges, Churchill will face up to 20 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The case will be prosecuted by the office of District Attorney Ben Creekmore.
A $50,000 surety bond covers Churchill’s employment as the Town Clerk of Hickory Flats. Surety bonds are similar to insurance designed to protect taxpayers from corruption. Churchill will remain liable for the full amount of the demand in addition to criminal proceedings.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275.
Before publishing its investigative series “The Backchannel,” which reveals Phil Bryant’s entanglement with Mississippi’s welfare scandal, Mississippi Today sat down with the former governor to discuss his leadership in the state’s safety net programs.
We initially published the portion of the interview in which Bryant discussed the stock offers he received from retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre and a Florida neuroscientist, whose companies received more than $2 million in allegedly stolen welfare funds from the state of Mississippi.
Below is the remainder of the interview, edited for length and clarity.
MT: Pivoting to the overarching issues at DHS. So, there was money that the defendants allegedly stole and then there was $77 million that the auditors say was misspent. And this is a major departmental failure.
Bryant: Mm.
MT: When did you find out about the overall breach?
Bryant: Um—
MT: Because the tip that you relayed was a small thing about John Davis and Brett DiBiase, correct?
Bryant: Yeah, when (State Auditor) Shad White — didn’t Shad report that at some time?
My answer is I don’t remember. I don’t remember when I read it, but I read in the news somewhere there was some $70 million dollars.
MT: Yeah, ‘cause I’ve always cared more about the overarching breach. I’m calling it a breach—
Bryant: Yeah.
MT: —because there were dozens and dozens of people who had a hand in misspending $77 million. That wasn’t a few employees stealing money from the agency. Two people are not accountable for that entire scheme. So, you served as auditor for more than 10 years. So, you know about spending protocols and I’m wondering why you think you didn’t know about the overall welfare breach sooner?
Bryant: I wish I had. Because I depend on the state auditor. That’s all you can do, and the internal controls. I mean, you depend on audits, you depend on federal audits. Again, I’m thinking surely CMS comes in here with their auditors and audit these funds and the state auditors in here audit these funds. And again, let’s not forget the attorney general, who has a lawyer sitting in there every day—
MT: I know, it blows my mind.
Bryant: I mean, didn’t somebody see something? That’s what — it blew my mind. Like, how could this happen? How could everybody have missed this?
MT: And I want to ask you, because you were the executive, you were the top official in the state, and you oversaw that department.
Bryant: Because no one ever came to me — well I was over a lot of departments. So, it’s impossible to determine what’s going on at DEQ and the Department of Public Safety and Human Services and MDA. Is somebody in there doing something they shouldn’t be? And the reason we put internal controls in and the state auditor is to do that, because the governor can’t sit there and independently go and try to determine if money’s being properly spent or not spent. I didn’t have the capacity to do that. I didn’t have the personnel to go and do that. That’s why we depend on oversight committees from the Legislature. So, every year there was a budget that went to Human Services. Wouldn’t the oversight committee of the Legislature say, “Okay, we want to see how your spending is going. Show us where you’re spending your money. Show us all the grants that you have.” Don’t they do that?
MT: What is that committee?
Bryant: There is a, well, there’s appropriations committee. But I believe there’s a DHS oversight committee. Am I right about that?
MT: I’m not familiar with this.
Bryant: I think there is an oversight committee, but check me and make sure I’m right. But even the appropriations process. When I used to sit on the Ways and Means Committee, and the joint legislative budget process, they would come in with stacks, not just Human Services, but every agency, “Here’s my expenditures. Here’s where it’s going. Here’s the cars that we bought.” And you could review them. So, no one caught that during the appropriations process, during the audit process, the attorney general, but I was supposed to catch it? None of them caught it, but I’m, being governor, and I’m supposed to catch it?
MT: Well, you were in direct communication with John Davis as your subordinate.
Bryant: And John Davis, every time I talked to John Davis, said, “Boy, we’re doing so good. I’m traveling around the country, talking to other people about how good Mississippi is.”
MT: Right, like when he went to Congress in June of 2019.
Bryant: Yeah. And he was literally testifying — I was told, again, I can’t go out and independently verify all of it — that he was testifying to Congress about the effectiveness of the Mississippi program the day I called him and said, “You need to get back here.” Wasn’t he testifying before Congress?
MT: You called him the day he came back, I think.
Bryant: Maybe it was a day or two.
MT: You were concerned with the travel.
Bryant: When this first came up, I said, “Well, let me talk to John Davis. Let’s get John Davis down here and find out what this is about.” And they said, “Well, he’s in Washington. And oh, by the way” — and I want to be careful here. I shouldn’t talk anymore because he’s got a trial ahead of him. So I don’t want to—
MT: Well, his charges are pretty narrowly tailored to Brett DiBiase.
Bryant: Yeah. But the judge has been pretty determined about people not talking about these cases.
MT: Can I just say what I have gathered? I mean, he came back, and you were questioning him about who paid for his hotel room at Trump Plaza.
Bryant: To the best of my memory, and forgive me for the details, but the first I recollect was this payment that went to someone else’s P.O. Box.
MT: Went to John Davis’ P.O. Box.
Bryant: You said that, I didn’t. I mean, you’re right. You’re right.
MT: That was Brett DiBiase’s $48,000 contract.
Bryant: So that was the first thing. And normally when that happens, and I’m just saying hypothetically, there’s a ghost employee or someone splitting the paycheck. You send it to me. I cash it. We split it.
MT: Kickback, whatever.
Bryant: So I went directly and I want to believe, before I even talked to John Davis, I know I went directly to Shad White and said, “There’s something wrong here.” But the other thing is, I didn’t say, “And only look at this, Shad, state auditor. Don’t look at anything else over there.”
MT: So, there’s two pretty different things, here, with money that was taken through fraudulent means, as is outlined in the indictments and then millions and millions that flew out the door unaccounted for. Those are, kind of, different things. The millions and millions that flew out of the door primarily flew through Families First for Mississippi, which was run by two non-profits.
Bryant: North and south?
MT: They both had — north was like $15 million, I think.
Bryant: A lot of money.
MT: So, you heavily promoted that program. And when you look back, I wonder what you think happened.
Bryant: Well, let’s see, heavily promoted. I would go to things that I was invited to that sounded good. The food center over by the medical center, that sounded like a really good thing. And the staff would come in and, oh, the guy that owns the restaurants—
MT: Jeff Good.
Bryant: Yeah. I thought Jeff was doing a marvelous job in Jackson and I really liked him. So I said, “Well, sure, I’ll go. Jeff’s got a program over there. I’ll go.” I don’t know that I realize it’s somebody was coming from Families First. I—
MT: So how do you think John Davis started sending tens of millions of dollars to these two nonprofits without you knowing about it?
Bryant: Because I would not be looking at the books. I would not be there going through the audit material of the Department of Human Services.
MT: But even just seeing what’s happening in the community and the banners and the signs and the presence that Families First had. That didn’t strike you—
Bryant: I was being governor. I just did not try to go through and see what that looked like. It would be like saying, well, if people are buying a lot of Tahoes out at the Department of Public Safety. I don’t go audit automobiles. I’m just, sorry, I didn’t notice a lot of the signs. I went to a couple of events, and they all seem very nice, events that were going to help the community.
But no, I didn’t, I cannot go and do an audit independently in an agency. That’s just not the governor’s responsibility. I don’t have the capacity to do that. So, I depended on the auditor to do it.
MT: In your communication with the welfare director, John Davis — you talked earlier about not having a say in funding decisions and spending at the agencies that your office is over — but you would say things like, “Any way we can help these guys?” with an attachment to an organization’s funding request.
Bryant: A question.
MT: There’s one example that I can think of where you asked him about funding a specific vendor and he responded that he would reach out to fund them that day. And this shows the influence that you had over your involvement in the welfare department’s spending and—
Bryant: Isn’t that a question?
MT: —and in his decision making.
Bryant: I mean, here’s what would happen—
MT: He responded saying that he would “fund them today.” And as a former auditor, you know that an agency can’t unilaterally direct money to a specific vendor without a proper procurement process.
Bryant: If they owe them money they can.
MT: If they owe them money?
Bryant: If they owe them money.
MT: We’re not talking about agencies that—
Bryant: If a vendor calls and says, “Department of Human Services hadn’t paid me.” And, and I go, “Well, let me let me check.” And I text John and say, “Have we paid these guys?” And he said, “I did it today.” I’m not sure that’s it, but I can assure you, I can assure you, that I would have never said, “Go around the bid process and pay these guys.”
MT: They didn’t even have a bid process, so if you asked John—
Bryant: Who were they, can you tell me who they were?
MT: One I can think of was Willowood Developmental Center.
Bryant: Oh yeah.
MT: There was T.K. Martin at Mississippi State University
Bryant: Okay.
MT: You had also asked about funding for Save the Children.
Bryant: Yep. Okay. Because those are very near and dear to me. Now, they’re nonprofits. They’re organizations. Save the Children. And I would ask him, “Can we help fund Save the Children? Can we fund this program at Mississippi State?” Because if I remember, there were going to be like a hundred people laid off at Mississippi State. And it was always a question: “Can we fund these?” And if he would say “No,” then fine. It was a question. And you said the other one was?
MT: Willowood.
Bryant: Willowood. Look, I did fundraising for Willowood. We did it back, me and Mike Moore and a bunch of folks. They do phenomenal work. And that’s, yes, I hope we funded — I will tell you, I would have asked for funding for Willowood.
MT: But the point is that he responded, “Yes, I will reach out to fund them today,” which shows some favoritism.
Bryant: If it’s wrong to try to help Willowood and those poor children out there, then I will have to say I was wrong, but I don’t think I was. I think that those people, those wonderful people at Willowood, I would do whatever I could to try to help them.
MT: It’s more about what it shows about how John Davis was running the agency and the way that he would make these unilateral decisions, without seeing an application from them first, for example.
Bryant: I would ask him when people would call me and they would say, “Willowood gets funded by Human Services every year. We hadn’t got funded this year.” And I would say, “Wow, let me check and see.” And that’s what I would do. I wouldn’t pick organizations and say, “fund this one, fund this one, fund this one.”
MT: Don’t you think that kind of discourse was putting pressure on your agency director to please his boss?
Bryant: I think a question from me saying, “Can we fund these folks?” is just that, a question, of trying to inquire about wonderful programs, like the one at Mississippi State. I think it was a children’s program, an educational program?
MT: It’s a clinic. Autism and dyslexia clinic.
Bryant: Yeah, autism. Autism. So yeah, there’s the pattern of, I cared very much about these children.
MT: Actually, an email about this is cited in the audit. It’s in a footnote regarding improper payments to T.K. Martin, where John Davis sent you an email saying that DHS could not fund it because it would not fit in the guidelines of TANF or any other grant that DHS administers.
Bryant: I’m glad he did.
MT: Then he came back a couple of weeks later and texted you and said, “We found a way to fund T.K. Martin Center” on your request.
Bryant: Perhaps he did it. And I hope it was proper and legal and ethical and moral because I remember people at Mississippi State, and I don’t remember who, calling and saying, “This is a wonderful program for these poor children and we’re going to lose it.”
MT: There was a lot of pressure on John Davis at that time to fund TK Martin.
Bryant: And I think it stopped at one point, didn’t it?
MT: And he told you that he would fund them. He told you that he told them that they were being funded before DHS ever saw an application from them
Bryant: But hasn’t DHS been funding them for—
MT: No. It’s an autism clinic. They don’t get DHS funding. They shouldn’t get DHS funding according to guidelines. They were getting DHS funding through Families First, but DHS had no record of that because they didn’t require Families First to send any expenditures back to them.
Bryant: I remember there was a program at Mississippi State that we terminated and a lot of people were very frustrated over that.
MT: There was a child care grant that ended up going to them, that Jacob Black signed after John Davis left. I don’t know why they would be receiving a child care grant.
Bryant: I don’t know that. But I was sensitive to children and if we could help fund them, I would have appreciated doing that, trying to fund needy children, autistic children.
MT: Right. And I’m not suggesting that the cause wasn’t good. It’s more about what it says about the agency’s operations, and if that’s how it was operating then—
Bryant: So, they could have funded hundreds and hundreds, and I called him three times and said, “Can you, maybe, check on these children?”
MT: I mean, I don’t know what you called him for that I don’t have text messages for.
Editor’s note: Mississippi Today only possesses text messages between Phil Bryant and John Davis for a four-month span during his three-and-a-half-year administration.
Bryant: About three times. I wouldn’t sit there every day and say, “Let me call.” I had very limited knowledge about all of those programs. You just cannot, as governor, keep up with that many moving parts.
When somebody calls and says, “I’ve got a children’s program, like Willowood, or a challenged adult program, and we’re going to have to put these people in the streets,” I would make a phone call. I would say, “Let me see what I can do,” because I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want these people to be without a place to stay.
MT: In the same line as, you know, favoritism, nepotism: Davis and his staff took a special interest in your great-nephew, Noah McCrae. They talked about him as if he was an employee of the agency, but he was receiving payments from Families First, Nancy New’s nonprofit. You also asked Davis for help getting Noah into treatment. And Nancy had previously said that she paid for Noah to go to rehab. Can you explain the Noah situation? Was this an inappropriate use of the state agency?
Bryant: I don’t think so because he was indigent. He and his father had moved here after a divorce from North Carolina. His father had no job. He had no means of support. I want to be very careful here because, he was very fragile, in a very threatening, emotional state. The child was. And we were trying to help him. He had no means of support. His father was unemployed. They were divorced. There was nothing. They had nothing. They were coming here trying to start from that. And he had a very difficult life. Mother divorced. Drugs. Heartbreaking story.
So we tried to help him. Where are the resources to help someone who doesn’t have any money, who is a juvenile, who needs treatment, who may be self-destructive? So yes, I tried to help him.
MT: You know about Nancy paying for his rehab?
Bryant: I do not.
MT: She was receiving state contracts. So she would have a reason to, you know, want to be favored.
Bryant: But hopefully there would be someone that would fit — I mean, his situation would have fit the support within DHS.
MT: Well, that’s what I don’t understand because Families First didn’t make direct payments to poor people. Families First didn’t have a program where people could come get cash assistance. So I don’t know why he was getting paid by Nancy’s nonprofit.
Bryant: I don’t know either. And I didn’t realize that. I mean, he was going to her school. So there was a hope that his special needs could be treated there. He was, let me be careful, this is his mental and emotional health. And he’s in jail now, has a 9-month-old child. I mean, this is a tragic situation with this young man and his family. I don’t know how she was paying that out of that. I think he could have easily fit into a category of getting support, if you’ve got an indigent child and we didn’t want to put him into the foster care system because his father was here trying to find a job, trying to get a home, trying to get a place for them to live in.
MT: I mean, he was an adult by the time he was working for families first or being looked after by DHS. And I don’t know why John Davis, as director of an agency would have kind of a direct line. Someone in that position. Why would John Davis have been texting your great nephew?
Bryant: Um, because he was my great-nephew.
MT: Right.
Bryant: And I’m sure I told John at some point, “This is a tragedy and we’re worried about his health,” and John would have said, “Let me help you with him. Let me see what I can do for this child.” And I would’ve probably said, “Thank you because I’m afraid we might lose him.” He is at that point.
MT: And you don’t know about how Nancy assisted with that?
Bryant: No, I don’t. John said, “Let us help.” You get him in her school. And I don’t think that lasted long.
MT: Did you have kind of a familial relationship with John Davis, for him to be helping out your nephew like that? I don’t understand—
Bryant: Yes, I mean, I knew John Davis well. I mean, I knew all my directors well. When I would see them, we would interact and talk, “How are things going,” and—
MT: But for him to take your young family member under his wing?
Bryant: Would I have asked John Davis to help a child in that condition? Or if he offered to do it, would I have accepted it? Yes.
MT: But Nancy New paying for him to go to rehab?
Bryant: I don’t remember that happening.
MT: So you’d be surprised — would you be surprised?
Bryant: I wouldn’t be surprised.
MT: Right, because why would she do that?
Bryant: I don’t know. If she had, I would have thought that they, maybe, were funds — she didn’t serve any children? — so it would not have been unusual, I would have thought, for her to pay for someone going to a rehab in the state of Mississippi, you know, like at Region 8 or somewhere like that.
I mean, I don’t follow all of the spending. I don’t know all the guidelines, but for an agency that works with the Department of Human Services, and I don’t remember her doing it, but saying, “We think we can pay for a rehab of this very fragile, indigent child. We think that’s the right thing to do,” would not have shocked me. I would not have said, “Whoa, wait a minute, let me go read the code books and make sure we can do all of that.”
I would have said, “Well, probably she can because it’s an indigent child that has huge emotional problems.”
Editor’s note: When Bryant’s great-nephew Noah McRae left prison and Bryant sought help from Davis on his behalf, McRae was an adult.
MT: Yeah, that’s not — young men who are poor are basically out of luck—
Bryant: They are.
MT: —at DHS, so—
Bryant: Oh at DHS?
MT: Yeah.
Bryant: Well.
MT: So, it’s unusual for someone to have gotten that kind of support from a nonprofit director with TANF funds or any other DHS funds.
Bryant: I just simply did not know that. Like I said, I saw the school that was out there, and thought there’s a lot of those children being served. I’m sure—
Editor’s note: Nancy New’s school, New Summit School, did serve children with mental health disorders, but it was a for-profit school and charged tuition.
MT: Yeah. It’s sensitive and it’s relevant because, I mean, obviously the nonprofit paying for someone to go to rehab is at the center of the criminal charges with Brett DiBiase going to Malibu.
Bryant: And I just simply didn’t know that. And I think, again, he’s not my child. He’s a great-nephew by marriage, if you will. But we were just simply trying to help the young man. If somebody did something wrong in trying to help them, I’m sorry and would be disappointed.
MT: So, what exactly did you ask John Davis to do for Noah?
Bryant: I don’t remember asking John Davis or having a conversation about Noah at all. But I said, if he said, “Let me see if I can help through Human Services,” knowing he’s Human Services director, knowing I’ve got this fragile child, I would’ve more than likely said, “Thank you. Whatever you can do to help this child inside — you know, again — the guidelines. He needs help.”
And I remember, I think, somewhere the discussion of Regional 8 Mental Health Center?
MT: Right.
Bryant: So do they charge indigent people who go there?
MT: They work on a sliding scale.
(Bryant’s partner interjected, redirecting Bryant to answer what he knew about how welfare officials were assisting Noah).
Bryant: Very, very little about how it all took place, who funded it, it was — I, just believing that Human Services, and even Families First, had the capacity to help an indigent child who needed mental health. If you had come up to me and said, “Do you think they can help him?” I would’ve said, “Well, of course they can.” That’s what they do. What they should be doing. The population they should be helping.
MT: Were you following his journey through the legal system at that time? He was out on parole.
Bryant: No, no. I thought this happened when he was in high school.
MT: I’m talking about when he got out of prison in December of 2018, and then started working, in whatever capacity, with Families First in January of 2019. You asked John Davis for help getting him into treatment in April of 2019.
Bryant: Okay.
MT: So that’s the timeline.
Bryant: I don’t remember. I remember struggling trying to help this young man. I didn’t know he was out of prison. I don’t remember the timeline, but there was no, again, no benefit to us whatsoever of helping this child except trying to save his life.
I mean, Anna, if that’s a bad thing—
MT: It’s more about why Nancy New would have been helping your great-nephew.
Bryant: I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe John asked her, maybe she interacted with the child at some point.
MT: And you got him into New Summit earlier on. When he was kid, you got into New Summit.
Bryant: I may have said, “New Summit would have been a good place for him.” I don’t remember anyone sitting down having these conversations.
MT: That would have been several years ago.
Bryant: Yeah. All I remember is trying to help this young man who had no means of support, who had later been in jail, who was just struggling. And we were trying to help. Now if they can’t do that, they should be able to. If Human Services can’t help these type of children, then what good are they?
MT: Yeah, I mean, when we’re talking about treatment, you know, if you’re talking about drug treatment, you signed a law making it so that people couldn’t access the TANF program unless they got a drug test.
Bryant: Right.
MT: So that’s kind of—
Bryant: We were trying to identify who was on drugs so we could treat ‘em.
MT: But DHS never paid for people to go to treatment, except for when it was done in secret.
Bryant: I did not know that and I think they should have. And I think that they should be allowed. Again, I don’t know all of the restrictions, but if Human Services can’t pay for indigent children, for mental health services and drug rehab, who does?
MT: I mean, that would be like Medicaid or the Department of Mental Health, and the Community Mental Health Centers.
Bryant: And I’m not sure he didn’t access some of that. His father was working with him during that time. And they may have. I remember his father telling me he had gone and filled out a lot of paperwork with maybe the Department of Mental Health? I’m not sure what, they were trying to access some help for him.
MT: The number of families receiving direct payments dropped 75% during your administration. And the reason that’s kind of ironic to me is ‘cause getting money directly into the homes of poor families was the entire concept of the Family First Initiative to prevent the removal of poor children from their families, which your wife co-chaired, if you recall.
And I remember listening to the radio one time, and SuperTalk was interviewing Nancy New and John Davis. And the interviewer said, you know, “That makes perfect sense to me because if we’re just going to pay foster families to take care of these children, why not just give that money to the parent?” Right?
Bryant: Mhm.
MT: And of course from everything we’ve seen, and everything we know about what happened with Families First, that didn’t occur. Money did not go to poor families. A lot of that money was instead spent on campaigns, and initiatives, and motivational speeches. Teddy DiBiase, For example, he was paid $3 million in welfare funds for doing things like speaking at your Healthy Teens Rally.
Editor’s note: Nancy New’s nonprofit paid $5 million to lease the athletic facilities on University of Southern Mississippi’s campus so it could conduct its programming there. It used the lease for exactly one event, according to a records request: the governor’s 2018 Healthy Teens Rally.
Bryant: Mm.
MT: Can you describe how these kinds of purchases specifically fit into your priorities for your welfare department? And talk about the amount of money that was going into programs like Healthy Teens, or Healthy Teens was used as justification for—
Bryant: I think Healthy Teens was a good program. And I was very proud of it, meeting with the young, healthy teens and seeing teen pregnancy reduce by some 24, 25%. Again, I wasn’t there to say who’s spending money on advertisements. I didn’t get to attend that rally, so I don’t know that DiBiase, if he did come and speak, I would not have said, “Let’s go pay him for it.”
I just did not control the day to day operations, I could not control the day to day operations of the Department of Human Services or Families First, either north or south. I just did not have time as governor to go and do that. But I would have hoped – and one of the reasons that we created the children’s services, we broke that off so we could spend more time helping children, so we could fit more foster children in the program.
Editor’s note: He’s referring to the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, which was created in 2016 and oversees the state’s foster care system, which was then and still is the subject of an ongoing court settlement due to its failure to protect children in its custody. One of the goals is to reduce the foster care population, not fit more children into the program.
And we increased the number of adoptions because we were able to go out and find attorneys, like at Mississippi College, to donate their time, so that we could get them through the court system and get them in a forever home. I mean, we were working constantly, I was, trying to find families.
Deborah was reading all across the state of Mississippi and hugging every child all across the state of Mississippi. She just received the Winter-Reed Award, like last month. So, it wasn’t as if we were ignoring children. We were doing everything we could to try and protect them.
MT: Except for putting direct resources into the home.
Bryant: And I did not know that was not happening. John reported to me one time that a number of people had dropped off, and I said, “Tell me why.” And he told me that they had not reapplied.
MT: Yeah. And I’m not just talking specifically about people receiving cash assistance. I also mean children who are at risk of being taken from their home, through the Family First Initiative.
Bryant: Right. And that’s why we created the Child Protection Service.
MT: Right. I’ll get to that.
Bryant: So we could do a better job of that. Alright, we gotta, yeah, I gotta go see my grandchildren.
MT: So Ted DiBiase Sr. said that you selected his ministry to be the face—
Bryant: That’s not true.
MT: —of his faith-based initiative.
Bryant: I don’t know where that came from. I don’t know that I’ve ever met Mr. DiBiase. It seems like we ran across each other in an airport one time.
MT: And you went to the movie set of his son, Teddy.
Bryant: Yeah.
MT: So you were closer with the sons than the father?
Bryant: I think he invited me to come out to a movie set and we were promoting making movies in Mississippi. Yeah, Ted came and met with me several times about making movies in Mississippi. I remember talking to him a couple of times. I went to one movie set.
MT: Okay.
Bryant: But no, I didn’t select Mr. DiBiase—
MT: Yeah, he said you selected him to be the face of his faith based initiative.
Bryant: That’s not true. But again, I would have looked at Mr. DiBiase and his mission as a good thing, not realizing he was getting a large amount of money for it.
MT: Right.
Bryant: So if someone came up and said, you know, “Ted DiBiase, The Million Dollar Man, has this wonderful mission where he’s teaching Christian principles,” I would have said, “Great. That sounds like a really good idea.” And Anna, that’s what happened most of the time. People would tell me part of a story. “DiBiase is out preaching. He’s a Christian man. He’s carrying the message around.” Fantastic. “Oh, by the way, we’re paying him a million dollars.” Hold up. That doesn’t sound good. Somebody else had to make those decisions.
MT: I mean, why do you think there was the prevalence of that at the department at that time? I don’t know that I’ve heard of multi-million dollar contracts for those kinds of services prior to the last few years of your time in office.
Bryant: I couldn’t tell you. And that was, again, John Davis’ decision, not mine. I surely didn’t pick Mr. DiBiase, and say, “Let’s go pay him millions of dollars.”
MT: Okay. Just really quick, sorry, on the point of Family First: You represented to the public that the state was embracing the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Bryant: I think that’s right.
MT: Remember the Family First Summit.
Bryant: Wasn’t that a federal act?
MT: Yeah, it’s a federal act that puts more resources into the state for prevention services, so not taking a kid from the home.
Bryant: Right.
MT: And you represented that the state was going to be a national model for embracing that Act. And it was all about keeping the kid in the home, right? This is 2018 timeframe. But you didn’t allow the Act to take effect in Mississippi. And to this day, the state has not submitted a Family First plan to the federal government, therefore none of those resources have flown into the state, at all. Can you explain–
Bryant: Whose responsibility is it for submitting that?
MT: CPS.
Bryant: Okay. But who at the state should fill out the paperwork and submit it back to get the funding?
MT: The head of CPS.
Bryant: I’m sorry. Oh, Child Protection Services?
MT: Yes.
Bryant: I cannot imagine — and you can go talk to the two Supreme Court Judges I appointed — but I cannot imagine they would not have worked diligently to try to get those funds.
MT: I mean, they believe that the executive branch was putting barriers up for them doing that. There was a letter from—
Bryant: That’s just hard for me to believe.
MT: There was a letter from the court to that effect. Sent in late 2018.
Bryant: I’ll have to go back and research that. I don’t know if there were something within that act that we later found out was offensive. I just, I can’t answer that, but I know we worked on an early childhood grant. We were able to get $50 million.
MT: No, we never got $50 million under that — you’re talking about the Preschool Development Grant?
Bryant: Right.
MT: The $10.6 million?
Bryant: Right.
MT: Yeah. We never got any more money after that. They rejected our application.
Bryant: Well—
MT: I was actually going to ask about that if I had time. The Family-Based Unified and Integrated Early Childhood System–
Bryant: Right.
MT: The cornerstone of which were the Early Childhood Academies–
Bryant: Right.
MT: —that were supposed to get the childcare centers up to the comprehensive designation.
Bryant: Mhm.
MT: So, you’ve touted that program, even a year after you left office, talked about how much it accomplished. The $10.6 million. No childcare centers ever got the comprehensive designation and the whole system later was abandoned and is not currently in place.
Bryant: I would refer you to Dr. Laurie Smith on that. Dr. Smith managed that. And, from every report I got, was doing a very good job. Our intent was to go with the community colleges, if I remember this program correctly, and get the teachers at those daycare centers up to some level because we just had high school graduates coming in there. And the money went to the community colleges.
MT: That’s right.
Bryant: And the community colleges didn’t do the training?
MT: It didn’t happen on a level that the centers were able to get the comprehensive designation, which is what was important because it was going to increase their voucher amount.
Bryant: Then we would have to check with the community colleges and find out why they weren’t doing that.
MT: And they were investigated by the feds over that grant as well. Did you know that we didn’t even—
Bryant: And what’s been the outcome of that? I don’t run — there is a community college board. So they would have been in charge of that. Our effort would have been trying to get that funding to them and them meet the standards to get — my goal, my hope was to get some level of education for these young women that are coming in and keeping 20 3-year-olds in the room. And we went and sought grants that we could go through the committee. Now, if you’re telling me some government program didn’t work properly, I’m not saying that they always do.
MT: But you did say that that one did.
Bryant: And I was told that it was.
MT: How do you know if someone over a program is telling you–
Bryant: You don’t.
MT: Oh my—
Bryant: It’s impossible.
MT: Okay.
Bryant: When you come in and somebody says, “This program’s wonderful and it’s working well,” you have to take the director or the executive director of the community colleges’ word for that.
MT: Did you know that they put Austin Smith, John Davis’ nephew, over that grant at the community college board?
Bryant: No.
MT: Did you know that we didn’t even spend all of the $10.6 million that you’ve talked about in speeches?
Bryant: I didn’t.
MT: We had to give a chunk of it back.
Bryant: I just tried to get it and hope that it would be properly—
I can’t, Anna, I can’t be responsible for every failure in state government. The governor can’t do that. And you’ve tried. For example, not one economic development program that we incentivized has failed. Not one program in eight years that we incentivized through Mississippi department of economic development has failed.
You look back in history, there’s been $60, $70 million dollars of programs that went under. Who’s responsible for that? Not one of my failed. Not one. The Department of Public Safety had four or five schools. They ran like clockwork. We got more officers on the street saving lives than anybody else. We were selected as one of the outstanding states in public education. That law right there put more third graders through school than anything else.
(Bryant pointed at the 2013 third grade reading gate bill hanging on his office wall.)
We finished, last year, fourth in the nation for progress in reading. So if I’m going to get the blame for everything in the state of Mississippi, give me a little credit for something. ‘Cause a lot of good things happened. Now, did we let, did a text get by me every now and then? Absolutely. Did people do things at agencies that they shouldn’t? Sure they did.
And I think it’s happened in every administration in the history of this state. That’s why you have really good auditors. But just look at the things that we accomplished before you finish an article that says how I manipulated all of this, as some guy sitting in an ivory tower up there saying, “Oh, let me move all of these pieces around.”
As governor, you’re trying to just get to work, solve problems, help people’s lives, make Mississippi a better place to live. Educate children. Try to expand healthcare. Build a new hospital, a new medical school. Build a new nursing school. Get more people so they can take care of poor indigent people in the state of Mississippi.
And if somebody doesn’t do his job, it’s impossible or hard for me to stop and go back and check all of that. It’s thousands of people, 3 million people and thousands of employees. And I’m just sorry I couldn’t manage every one of them.
MT: Yeah. I just think that the failure at DHS and the breadth of the corruption at that agency was catastrophic. And I just can’t understand, or I can’t conceive that you wouldn’t be held accountable for some of that.
Bryant: Because I didn’t run that agency. And I’m the guy that called the people in to prove that that happened and to get it stopped. Okay. Here’s what I can say. Alright, I didn’t see that because as governor, I’m at 30,000 feet. When I did begin to see it, when I did see it, I called in an auditor. I hired the SAC of the FBI. We said, “We’ve got to get a comprehensive forensic audit in here.” Now, maybe if I had seen it three years earlier, I would have done all of that then. But as soon as I got to the point to where I realized something was not right, I did what I should have done. I called it the state auditor.
No, you can say, “Well you should have done it a lot earlier,” but you’ve never been governor and you don’t know how complex and busy that job is. And how you have to depend on other people.
MT: I’m not so much talking about the P.O. Box or, you know, $48,000. I’m talking about—
Bryant: It wasn’t just that though. That was just the beginning of it. I didn’t call him in and just say, “Find out about the P.O. Box.” “Find out about everything.” Chris Freeze—
MT: The sheer lack of controls, the sheer lack of oversight—
Bryant: Stunning.
MT: —that’s what I’m talking about.
Bryant: Stunning, yeah.
MT: Would you agree that the welfare system in Mississippi was flawed or broken?
Bryant: Oh, absolutely. Now I know that it was flawed or broken, but again, think about what information I was getting and I couldn’t independently go verify it. John Davis was telling me, “I go all over the country talking to these organizations about how great this system is.” He was testifying before Congress, the day he was in Washington—
MT: I know, he gave one example of how the state is helping people find self-sufficiency that is not food stamps—
Bryant: But, Anna, unless somebody—
MT: He cited “Law of 16,” his motivational speaking and self-help lecture that he was having Teddy DiBiase run for $3 million.
Bryant: I didn’t attend that but when somebody testifies—
MT: How does that happen in broad daylight?
Bryant: When somebody testifies before Congress on the positive things, I have to believe that positive things are happening. When I see more people going to work at any time in Mississippi’s history, you’ve got to feel like some of them getting off the welfare roll and getting good jobs. When you’re creating 12 — I don’t know how many jobs we created — hundreds of thousands of new jobs so that people can get a job and live the American dream.
MT: You did talk about how DHS was “getting people to work.” Did you ever see any statistics that bear that out? How many people received jobs through DHS?
Bryant: I probably did, but—
MT: I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. I don’t think that exists.
Bryant: I would have to look back and see, but what I did know is we reached 4.7% unemployment while we were maintaining or losing population.
MT: I mean, does that take into account the workforce participation rate?
Editor’s note: Mississippi’s workforce participation rate, in some cases a more revealing statistic about the strength of a state’s labor force, reached a historic low of 55% during Bryant’s administration.
Bryant: Yes. I mean, yes, it was. And it was taking into consideration that people were getting real jobs and they were getting better jobs and they were graduating from high school at the highest level ever. When I left office, our graduation rate surpassed the national average. Surpassed the national average.
Editor’s note: At about 2.5 hours, Bryant’s partner interjected to end the interview.
Bryant: Look, should I have caught some of that? Absolutely. Did I do anything wrong? No.
Bryant’s partner asked to clarify a previous question about whether the former governor should be held accountable for the MDHS scandal.
MT: What is your role? How much are you responsible for what happened at MDHS —getting to the heart of that question.
Bryant: Look, I’ll take my responsibility. Yeah, I was the governor. I wish I had been able to catch it. The moment I did, I called in the state auditor. Not just for a check. That was just the beginning, but go everywhere.
I never called him and said, “Just look at this and don’t look at anything else.” We’re going to find that bill where we put an independent auditor in there.
But yeah, I’ll take responsibility if we’ll also recognize the good things that happened in this state while I was governor and the hard work we put into it. Deborah and I worked 12, 15 hours. No, you don’t want to say that. We were thankful to be able to do it. But Joey (Songy, former chief of staff, current business partner) will tell you, I mean, we worked 15 hours a day. It wasn’t to try to get rich. It was because we cared about the people in the state of Mississippi, and we wanted them to do better.
Did we, did I miss some things? Absolutely. And could I go back? I would bet, dare to say, that at some point in your organization, somebody would have said, “I wish we would have caught that. We missed that.” Things happen. Bad things happen, good things happen. You can’t control every one of them. You hope and pray.
And I’m a man of faith, Anna, of strong faith. I don’t go about that using it, but I would do nothing to violate my faith, my strong belief that I have a savior and he’s forgiven me and continues to forgive my sins and my failures. And to throw all of that away over, what, some paper stock? I don’t, I don’t think so. That just wouldn’t happen.
Thank y’all, gotta go see my grandchildren. They think Papa’s a pretty good guy.
Although it has become the default, occupational licensing is not the only form of regulation that can be used to ensure the quality of services. Policymakers have a range of alternatives that can be tailored to the specific harms licensing is currently being used to address. Occupational licensing is a blunt instrument with substantial costs and should only be used when the benefits to licensure outweigh those costs. Before imposing new licensing requirements or when reviewing existing licensing laws, policymakers should find evidence of harm and use the least restrictive form of regulation to reduce that harm.
The Institute for Justice designed The Inverted Pyramid, which provides a hierarchy of the alternatives to licensing. The options range from market competition with no regulation to the strongest form of regulation, occupational licensing. The first four options are voluntary and non-regulatory, that can encourage quality services with little government involvement. Sometimes, this is all that is needed to protect consumers. If government intervention is necessary, as is the case sometimes, there are seven additional options of increasing stringency
Market competition
When service providers are forced to compete against each other for consumers’ business, the lower quality providers will be driven out as consumers stop patronizing them and switch to higher skilled providers.
Quality service self-disclosure
Professionals help inform consumers about their quality by making their reviews from past consumers easily available, allowing consumers to compare the satisfaction between providers.
Voluntary certification
Professionals can obtain voluntary credentials from 3rd party organizations that attest to their education and experience, demonstrating their quality without erecting barriers to entry into the profession.
Voluntary bonding or insurance
In services that pose a greater risk to consumers, professionals can obtain bonding or insurance to guarantee consumers protection from their failure to fulfill an obligation or losses from a mistake.
Private causes of action
Allowing consumers to bring lawsuits against service providers who injure them, or making it easier for them by allowing them to sue in small claims court or collect court and attorney fees, can force providers to adopt standards that prevent harm or drive the low skilled providers from the market.
Deceptive trade practices act
All 50 states currently have deceptive trade practices acts that protect consumers from predatory or negligent practices by service providers, so these can be used to hold low quality professionals accountable if their negligence harms consumers.
Inspections
The inspection of facilities or the work of service providers can be used in lieu of occupational licensing to ensure that they meet minimum standards of quality and safety without the high costs of licensing.
Mandatory bonding or insurance
In cases where the services provided pose a serious threat to consumers and 3rd parties, states can mandate that professionals obtain bonding or insurance to compensate for any damages while not limiting entry into the profession.
Registration
Requiring services providers to provide the state with their information can aid consumers in bringing a private cause of action and deter bad actors by making lawsuits easier.
Mandatory certification
A government agency provides credentials to professionals that meet certain education and experience standards. Anyone can practice in the profession, but only those with a certification can use the title, demonstrating their quality to consumers.
Occupational licensing
The strongest form of occupational regulation, licensing requires that service providers meet numerous standards before they are legally allowed to offer services.
You can help reform occupational regulations. Please sign the petition below.
Empower Mississippi welcomes Forest Thigpen to its growing team. In his capacity as Senior Advisor, Forest will play a critical role in strategy development, public policy research and advocacy, government relations, and community engagement.
“We’re thrilled to have someone with Forest’s knowledge, integrity, and credibility join the Empower team. No one has more public policy experience and institutional knowledge of the legislative process from walking the halls of the Capitol for 30 years,” said Empower CEO Grant Callen. “Forest has worked alongside five Mississippi governors and hundreds of lawmakers. He’s had a hand in writing countless key pieces of legislation that have created opportunity and moved this state forward, all while operating in a way that builds bridges. He will be a tremendous asset to our team.”
Thigpen has nearly three decades of experience and is one of the most trusted names at the State Capitol. He started Mississippi Center for Public Policy in 1993 and served as President until 2017. Most recently, he has worked for Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation in Mississippi.
Thigpen joins a team that has expanded in the last two years to include Empower President Russ Latino, Empower Vice President of Marketing & Communications Brett Kittredge and a bevy of nationally-recognized Contributing Fellows. His addition will allow Empower to continue expanding its scope, reach and influence, both at the Capitol and across Mississippi’s communities.
After years of budget woes, members of the Post-Secondary Board expressed surprise at a meeting Monday that the Legislature had fully funded Mississippi’s college financial aid programs this session.
This means that for the first time since 2015, the Office of Student Financial Aid will be able to award nine forgivable loan programs mainly targeting nursing and other health-related professions.
The board briefly considered reserving some of its funding,about $2.5 million from collections, for a “rainy day” — that is, a year when the Legislature is not as generous. OSFA had requested $48 million in general funds this session, and lawmakers ultimately appropriated about $50 million.
“Why do we get more than we requested?” asked Barney Daly, a board member who is the president of North Metro at Trustmark National Bank.
“I do not know what the legislators were actually thinking,” replied Jennifer Rogers, OSFA’s director.
“Have we ever gotten more than we asked for?” Daly asked again, this time chuckling.
Prior to this session, lawmakers had underfunded Mississippi’s student financial aid programs for years. From the 2019 to 2021 sessions, OSFA had to ask for a deficit appropriation — meaning it had awarded more dollars to college financial aid than lawmakers had allocated. OSFA is obligated to award financial aid to every undergraduate college studentwho applies and qualifies for one of Mississippi’s three grant programs.
OSFA was not receiving enough funds from the Legislature to award its forgivable loan programs. Per state statute, OSFA can award its loan programs on a first-come, first-serve basis only after every undergraduate student who applies and qualifies for a grant receives it.
“This hasn’t happened in a very long time,” said Jim Turcotte, the executive director of Mississippi College’s alumni association and the chairman of the Post-Secondary Board.
This year, OSFA will award up to about 460 students, primarily those pursuing nursing degrees. Students who met the March 30 deadline to apply have until April 30 to submit all their supporting documents. In general, through these loan programs, the state will forgive one year of a student’s loan in exchange for one year of service in Mississippi after graduation.
This surplus of funds could affect the urgency behind the Mississippi One Grant, the overhaul of state financial aid programs the Post-Secondary Board proposed last year. By rewriting the state’s existing aid programs, the board sought to address the problem of legislative underfunding by capping the annual cost of the One Grant at $48 million.
Still, some members wondered if the board should save its additional funding rather than spend it. After Rogers explained the board could choose to fund its forgivable loan programs, Turcotte asked his fellow members if it might be prudent to set aside the extra funds for a future session when the Legislature does not appropriate as much.
“As we look ahead, there will be times in the future when we will not have enough money appropriated to this board to cover the projected expenses,” Turcotte said.
“I’m just trying to look ahead because, again, I know there’ll be bleeding days ahead,” he added.
Daly asked if it was possible for the board to save the funds for a “rainy day.”
“I think if we don’t award, and we have a lot of carryover, there will be questions about why we’re carrying over a lot of money,” Rogers said.
At the meeting, the board also discussed plans to implement a new scholarship for college students who were in foster care. Rogers also updated the board on the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Summer Grant Program. For that program, Rogers’ office will award up to $3.5 million to college students who have fallen behind on courses during the pandemic. Rogers said she thinks OSFA will award all the funds this summer.
Former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services John Davis (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, is facing new bribery charges for his alleged role in the state’s sprawling welfare embezzlement scandal.
In the indictment unsealed Monday, prosecutors allege Davis increased federal grants to Nancy New’s nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center in exchange for payments to the luxury rehab facility where his friend and retired professional wrestler Brett DiBiase received treatment in 2019. For more than two years, Davis has faced five counts ranging from conspiracy, embezzlement and fraud. He now faces 20 counts, which includes nine new counts of bribery.
Prosecutors say the rehab payments — $40,000 per month for four months — personally benefitted Davis because he had promised to pay the rehab bill himself, so, in effect, the nonprofit extinguished his debts. Davis, who pleaded not guilty to the new charges on April 8, now technically faces almost 150 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts.
Text messages between Davis and New, obtained by Mississippi Today and reprinted here as they were written, shed light on how Davis directed New to pay for DiBiase’s rehab. Prosecutors say New and her son Zach New used grant money to make the payments.
“Just got off phone with Drs working with Brett,” Davis texted Nancy New in March of 2019, DiBiase’s second month in treatment at the luxury rehab facility called Rise in Malibu. “They think he should remain on site for another 30 days. Can you have Zack do the same thing he did to wire the same amount to them again today or first thing in the morning? This soo be the last time I ask this.”
“No problem,” Nancy New responded. “Let’s do what we need to do as many times as it takes. We are on it!”
In January 2022, the News were similarly hit with a new superseding indictment, which added the bribery and racketeering charges against them for a total of 46 counts that they each face. The News pleaded not guilty and could face hundreds of years in prison if convicted on all counts.
After several delays, more of which are possible, the state trial for the News is currently set for sometime in August or October and the Davis trial is set for Sept. 26. Both the prosecution and defense teams have asked for continuances over the last two years due to the volume of discovery and the complexity of the case.
Davis and New have tried to justify their involvement with Rise in Malibu by suggesting the welfare department was attempting to model programs after the clinic.
“At this point it’s going to take us all,” Davis texted Nancy New, referring to DiBiase’s recovery. “I want us to fly out there and let you personally see their approach. It could be something we want to model in the addiction world we are dealing with.”
The latest installment of Mississippi Today’s investigative series “The Backchannel” chronicles how then-Gov. Phil Bryant’s great-nephew similarly received special treatment from the welfare department.
The welfare agency imposes drug testing on welfare clients, which more often creates barriers to eligibility, kicking people off the program. New’s nonprofit received tens of millions from the Mississippi Department of Human Services to run a program called Families First for Mississippi, which promised to assist families “holistically,” but it did not advertise substance abuse treatment to clients.
The agency contracted with another nonprofit, Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, to run the program alongside Nancy New.
Around the time Davis was instructing Nancy New to pay Rise in Malibu, conflict was building between the Families First providers, who were competing for funding from the department.
“I am saying prayers as we need peace,” Nancy New texted Davis. “Also, In saying that I want to continue to move forward, do what you need me to do for all these wonderful people in this state who need us to help them. We are keeping our eye on the ball and don’t want to veer.”
“Amen,” Davis responded, followed a few hours later by another text: “Can you check on the transfer to Rise. They say they are not seeing it yet.”
Later that month, Nancy New texted Davis praising him for supporting DiBiase through his recovery and helping him get back on a plane headed to Malibu. In early April, Davis again told New that DiBiase’s therapist recommended he stay another 30 days and told her she could transmit the payment in the morning.
“I am glad to help in anyway I can,” she texted.
The initial indictment against Davis, filed more than two years ago in February 2020, focused more narrowly on allegations surrounding DiBiase’s rehab stint, plus that Davis directed the agency to pay DiBiase on a fraudulent contract for work he didn’t complete while he was in treatment.
Investigators from the state auditor’s office were tipped off to this alleged fraud when they learned the agency had sent DiBiase’s check to a P.O. Box belonging to Davis. Agents were trying to discern if Davis received a kickback in the exchange, according to investigative materials reviewed by Mississippi Today, but the retired wrestler told investigators he used the money to lavish his girlfriend in New Orleans.
Early on, investigators from the auditor’s office also inquired about the agency’s dealings with Brett DiBiase’s brother Ted DiBiase Jr., who collected more than $3 million in welfare funds for self-help lectures he was delivering to state employees. But as their investigation continued, they learned that the scheme ran much deeper than Davis’ odd relationship with the WWE family.
According to a forensic audit, the welfare department misused $77 million during the Davis and Bryant administrations. While Davis is on the hook for the bulk of the misspending, Mississippi Today’s investigation reveals how Bryant, who has not faced any allegations of wrongdoing, wielded influence over the director’s decisions.
The new indictment against Davis notes that the News used the money they allegedly bribed Davis to pay them to make investments in a company called Prevacus, which was developing a treatment for concussions, and its offshoot PreSolMD. Text messages between Bryant and the owner of Prevacus show the outgoing governor was prepared to strike a business deal with the company, until arrests derailed the arrangement.
After Mississippi Today’s story broke, the NAACP wrote a letter asking for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the former governor’s actions, but federal officials have yet to acknowledge the recent revelations.
Noah McRae was the kind of kid who, if you said the sky is blue, would argue it is red until he was ready to fight.
Growing up in the Jackson suburbs, McRae had problems with authority and his temper. His parents divorced. He bounced from school to school, and he eventually started using drugs.
But he had at least one thing going for him that other young men didn’t: His great-uncle is Phil Bryant, Mississippi’s governor from 2012 to 2020.
And the governor had two things: A friend named Nancy New and a welfare department with millions in flexible cash and free rein to hire whomever it wanted. Both came in handy when McRae needed some help.
Bryant’s subordinates and friends helped McRae secure a spot at an exclusive school, a job after he was expelled and specialized supervision.
And according to records recently obtained by Mississippi Today, federal investigators have been told New even paid for McRae to go to rehab.
An early assist came when McRae was having difficulty in school. His family eventually linked up with Nancy New’s private New Summit School in Jackson. New was a campaigncontributor to Phil Bryant and worked closely with his wife, Deborah, the sister of McRae’s grandmother.
Mississippi’s current governor Tate Reeves even used the Jackson school as a film location for his campaign advertisement, which aired in 2019 while New was under state investigation for fraud and theft related to the massive contracts her nonprofit received from the welfare department under Bryant’s administration.
Agents from the state auditor’s office arrested New, her son Zach New and Bryant’s former welfare director John Davis in early 2020 in what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history. Each of them pleaded not guilty and still await trial while the governor, despite his involvement with the players in the case, appears to have coasted.
But at the time, New was well-known in political circles. Prominent state figures touted her school for its work in educating children with intellectual disabilities and for taking students with behavioral problems.
McRae had been diagnosed with ADD, anxiety and a visual processing disorder called Irlen Syndrome, according to court documents, so his family felt fortunate that he landed a spot at the school.
“The governor pulled strings to get him in there,” said Darin Cooper, McRae’s stepfather.
Because of Noah McRae’s relationship to the governor, Cooper said the family paid a discounted tuition at New Summit.
It didn’t work out as hoped, but McRae still managed to get a safety net.
“He got expelled from there,” Cooper said, and then the school “turned around and hired him as a groundskeeper.”
The New Summit School in Jackson, formerly run by Nancy New and her son Zach New. Both were arrested in 2020 on charges they allegedly stole $4 million in Mississippi welfare dollars. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Things were not quite what they seemed at the school, either. Federal prosecutors say that for four years the News filed fraudulent claims to illegally collect millions in public school dollars typically reserved for kids who have mental health disorders and need hospitalization. Nancy and Zach New also pleaded not guilty and still await trial in that separate federal case.
Cooper said the family believes McRae was one of the students whose names the News used to draw down the funds.
“We had a lot of hope in that school,” Cooper said. “It was real big for the family when he got admitted to that school. They were promising to fix everything, you know, and turn him around.”
McRae never made it past 10th grade. Shortly after in April of 2017, police in neighboring Madison arrested the 18-year-old McRae after he and his friends broke into several vehicles, stealing guns and other items.
McRae pleaded guilty in June of 2017 to three counts of auto burglary, according to the court file obtained by Mississippi Today. McRae agreed to be a sheriff’s trusty, which kept him out of the penitentiary. But after just shy of a year, officials terminated him from the program for cause. He sat in jail for five months until his sentencing. By then, he’d been locked up for about a year-and-a-half.
Madison County Circuit Court Judge Steve Ratcliff sentenced McRae to seven years in prison, four years suspended, meaning he only had to serve three years. With credit for the 18 months he had already been incarcerated, McRae had served half of his sentence and was parole eligible. The Mississippi Department of Corrections released him about a month later.
A few weeks after leaving prison, New’s nonprofit began paying the 19-year-old small, sporadic payments, records obtained by Mississippi Today show. He was paid under a welfare-funded program called Families First for Mississippi, according to the ledger of purchases.
While New’s nonprofit claimed to provide reentry services to people leaving the correctional system, New stressed to Mississippi Today in 2018 that Families First did not provide direct assistance to clients.
So it’s not clear what McRae may have been doing in exchange for the payments, but it wasn’t long until an exchange of text messages indicated that something was amiss with the young man. State employed welfare officials were spending work hours trying to keep an eye on him.
Credit: Graphic by Bethany Atkinson
Eventually, Gov. Bryant would take concerns about McRae to his appointed welfare director John Davis, according to text messages Mississippi Today obtained and have reprinted here as they appear without correction.
“The boy needs help quickly or he is going to fall badly. Thanks for all your have done,” Bryant said in a text to Davis on April 1, 2019.
The request brought the combined resources and interests of the state’s welfare department and New’s nonprofit together for another attempt to help McRae. It’s unclear how far that help went.
Former Gov. Phil Bryant
“I’m sure I told John at some point, ‘This is a tragedy and we’re worried about his health,’ and John would have said, ‘Let me help you with him,’” Bryant said in a recent interview with Mississippi Today when asked about the connection between McRae and the welfare agency.
According to the texts, Bryant was specifically asking Davis for information about how to get his great-nephew into a treatment program, but an individual with close ties to the welfare scandal says McRae received much more than a referral.
In a transcript from a 2021 interview with federal investigators, the person told agents that New said she paid for McRae to go to rehab.
Bryant told Mississippi Today in a recent interview that he did not recall New paying for his great-nephew to go to rehab, but that he felt it might be an appropriate use of her resources.
“I don’t know all the guidelines, but for an agency that works with the Department of Human Services and I don’t remember her doing it, but saying, ‘We think we can pay for a rehab of this very fragile indigent child. We think that’s the right thing to do,’ would not have shocked me,” Bryant said. “I would not have said, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, let me go read the code books and make sure we can do all of that.’”
Investigators did not immediately ask follow-up questions about the alleged payment, moving on to other topics, according to the transcript. The interviewee said they didn’t know which facility McRae went to, but that he was in treatment around the same time that New and Davis allegedly sent professional wrestler Brett DiBiase to a luxury rehab clinic on the taxpayer’s dime. That began in February 2019. DiBiase pleaded guilty to defrauding the state – collecting money for work he didn’t do while he was in rehab – in December 2020.
New had a strong motivation to keep Bryant and Davis happy. Under the two men’s leadership, the Mississippi Department of Human Services had started funneling tens of millions from the federal welfare program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to New’s nonprofit through a no-bid contract.
The idea was for her nonprofit, Mississippi Community Education Center, to run a state-sanctioned initiative called Families First for Mississippi, which Gov. Bryant frequently touted as part of his plan to help poor people get off welfare. Bryant has not been accused of misconduct and has denied any wrongdoing.
Drug rehab payments have played a key role in the welfare scandal.
It has been widely reported that Families First paid the $160,000 tab for retired wrestler Brett DiBiase to stay four months at the Rise in Malibu, Calif., which bills itself as a luxury rehab center with “private en suite rooms, majestic ocean views, world-class treatment and luxurious accommodations.” Prosecutors say the payments were made using welfare funds.
John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services
Brett DiBiase is the son of Ted DiBiase Sr., who WWE fans know as “The Million Dollar Man.” The dad also received welfare funding in his role as a Christian minister. Brett DiBiase was one of six people arrested in the welfare fraud case, and he’s since flipped to aid the prosecution.
Jackson attorney Scott Gilbert, who represented McRae in his 2017 car burglary case, currently represents the other son, Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr., another character in the scandal who received more than $3 million in federal funding to make motivational presentations to welfare department staffers and other state employees. Gilbert said his office does not comment on their client representation.
In the indictment against Davis, prosecutors allege the welfare director conspired with New to use the taxpayer money her nonprofit received to pay for Brett DiBiase’s drug treatment in Malibu.
States are allowed to use some Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding to pay for substance abuse treatment for needy, qualified residents, a progressive policy focused on meeting the actual needs of families.
But in Families First’s many million-dollar promotional campaigns, brochures and thousands of dollars worth of spots on radio stations, the program did not advertise that families could receive drug treatment through the program.
In fact, Bryant previously signed and publicly lauded a new law that requires applicants and recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to take drug screenings and tests or face rejection from the program. The policy became a significant barrier to eligibility, even for people who don’t abuse substances, because applicants must find transportation to the testing clinic.
Throughout January and February of 2019, Mississippi Community Education Center paid Noah McRae several small, sporadic payments totaling about $1,500, ledgers obtained by Mississippi Today show. Officials have told Mississippi Today that these ledgers likely contain errors and omissions, especially since nonprofit officials had been transferring funds between several different bank accounts.
Nancy New, founder of Mississippi Community Education Center and owner of New Summit School
Under the Families First program, it was common for employees to appear as if they were working for the Mississippi Department of Human Services but receive their paycheck from the nonprofit, whose expenses were shielded from public view.
By March, McRae had stopped receiving funds from Families First, according to the ledger, but Davis and his communications director Lynne Myers were still discussing McRae as if he were a rogue agency employee.
“I’m needing your direction on how you would like me to handle Noah,” Myers messaged Davis in early March. “He has not been at work since last Wednesday … He hasn’t shown up at all this week and I can’t get him on his cell. How would you like me to proceed?”
It’s unclear what position McRae may have held at the nonprofit or welfare department or what qualifications he possessed for the job. Current MDHS leadership says there is no record of McRae’s employment at the agency.
In the weeks after Myers reached out, Davis sent McRae several text messages asking the governor’s great-nephew to meet with him or call him. It’s unclear why the director would have had a direct line to a Families First client or employee, let alone one at McRae’s level, as that kind of exchange was not common.
When asked why welfare officials would have been texting with McRae, Bryant responded, “because he was my great-nephew.”
Credit: Graphic by Bethany Atkinson
Finally, Nancy New chimed in. In late March 2019, New messaged Davis and Myers, “I have an update on Noah McRae.”
“Is he okay?” Myers responded.
No texts on the group chat follow.
Less than a week later, Gov. Bryant himself messaged Davis about his great-nephew.
“Would you have a number for David at Region 8. Trying to get Noah into a treatment program,” Bryant wrote on April 1. “The boy needs help quickly or he is going to fall badly. Thanks for all your have done. He has to do some of this own his own but David can tell is what he thinks is best for him.”
David Van is the director for Region 8, the Community Mental Health Center in the Jackson-metro area. The Community Mental Health Centers are a series of quasi-public-private clinics and treatment facilities that accept payment on a sliding scale depending on what a person can afford.
Van told Mississippi Today it was not unusual for the governor to call him, asking for help guiding constituents to services, but that he did not remember ever talking to John Davis or triaging someone named Noah McRae.
Davis and New are bound by gag orders which prevent them from speaking to the media about their cases. Their attorneys declined to answer questions for this series. Myers would not respond to Mississippi Today’s calls to offer further context about her involvement with McRae. Myers has not faced any charges, but agents from the auditor’s office did interview her early on in their investigation about why she moved merchandise purchased with taxpayer money from state property to the nonprofit after the state placed Davis on administrative leave in June 2019, according to a recording of the interview.
Myers took over the communications division in the fall of 2018 right after her predecessor, Paul Nelson, became the subject of a complaint for failing to release public records in a timely manner. The agency was soundproofing itself, forcing all agency communication with reporters to go through the attorney general’s office. It also enacted a media policy that reporters must submit all questions for the agency in writing, which it would often not answer.
Credit: Graphic by Bethany Atkinson
Davis and New’s involvement with McRae isn’t the only example of the welfare officials helping a colleague deal with a family member in addiction.
Texts show the assistant attorney general assigned to MDHS sought help from Davis and New for his coworker’s son, who was at the time checking into Pine Grove, an addiction treatment facility in Hattiesburg. The son worked for MDHS’s child support contractor before he passed away in 2021. “I will reach out to Dr. New,” the assistant attorney wrote in late June of 2019, after Bryant kicked the director out of office but before Davis announced his retirement publicly. “Again, thanks for all you have done.”
In general, Davis and New ran a government program rampant with nepotism, texts show.
The welfare-funded Families First program also hired Myers’ husband, Kevin Myers, former director of the Department of Public Safety’s administrative operations, as a community liaison. He pulled a salary of at least $86,000 from New’s nonprofit, according to its ledger. Text messages show that Davis also secured a job at Families First for their daughter Mason Myers, who was paid roughly $600 a week, the ledger shows.
Credit: Graphic by Bethany Atkinson
“You have blessed our family greatly John, and I just needed to tell you you’re awesome and we are so grateful,” Lynne Myers texted Davis in mid-June of 2019, about a week before he would face his first polygraph test in connection with the audit of his department.
Myers previously served as the special projects coordinator for Bryant’s office. On LinkedIn, she described herself as a network account executive for TeleSouth Communications, also known as Supertalk radio, beginning in 2017. She was director of communications for MDHS in 2018 and 2019. SuperTalk radio is a hyper-conservative talk radio station that state agencies pay hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars each year in exchange for advertising and, in some cases, the luxury of soft-ball interviews for state bureaucrats.
New’s nonprofit funneled nearly $330,000 in MDHS funds to the station, a 2020 audit report shows.
Davis had close communication with Supertalk CEO Kim Dillon and the two would discuss the progress of her son Logan Dillon, who worked as a lobbyist for the welfare department.
“Everybody tells me how great Logan is doing,” Davis once texted the CEO. “I’m so proud of him.”
A couple months before Davis abruptly retired, Kim Dillon invited the welfare director out to dinner at Tico’s Steakhouse in Ridgeland.
“I talked with Logan last night and told him I had dinner with you. I didn’t go into what all we talked about but did let him know. I appreciate everything you have done for him!” Dillon texted Davis in early May of 2019.
While the good ole boy system in Mississippi’s government provided McRae opportunities and second-chances not enjoyed by most, the alleged scheme also exploited McRae.
Prosecutors say the News converted at least some of the public school funds they allegedly bilked in the name of students like McRae to their own personal use.
“From what we understand with the private school, they were receiving a bunch of state or federal funds and pocketing them,” Cooper, McRae’s stepdad, said. “None of them ever went to Noah. No help ever went to Noah from those people. They were just using his name as a shell to collect government funds.”
Despite gaining a spot at New’s private school, a job on the campus and Families First, and supervision from powerful bureaucrats, McRae didn’t achieve a better outcome.
After McRae’s time under the wing of the welfare department and Families First, he went back to breaking into cars in late 2019 and wound up convicted of conspiracy to commit auto burglary in neighboring Rankin County.
In February 2021, a couple months after the birth of his daughter, McRae pleaded guilty and a judge sentenced him to five years in prison, according to MDOC records.
He is currently incarcerated at Leake County Correctional Facility.
This is Part 5 in Mississippi Today’s series “The Backchannel,” which examines former Gov. Phil Bryant’s role in the running of his welfare department during what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history.
Jared South was a model client of Mississippi’s welfare agency.
A photo of South and details about his life appear on the Mississippi Department of Human Services website on a page dedicated to the agency’s success stories. The department used South’s experience in its workforce program as an ideal example.
Mississippi Today caught up with South in 2020 to learn how the state’s social safety net helped the young man improve his life, but discovered that within days of MDHS documenting South’s story, the agency cut him off from services because he lost the car he used to get to work.
Young childless men are particularly out of luck when it comes to assistance programs offered by the welfare agency – unless they’re related to someone with ties to the state government. Mississippi Today’s investigation, “The Backchannel,” sheds light on the depth of nepotism at MDHS during then-Gov. Phil Bryant’s administration, including preferential treatment offered to the governor’s wayward relative.
Bryant’s great-nephew and South, two young white men from Mississippi who didn’t finish traditional high school, share a lot in common — except for their connections. Bryant told Mississippi Today that he believed his great-nephew was just the kind of person MDHS exists to help.
“How come when he (Phil Bryant) helped his nephew, he didn’t quote-unquote visit the other people that were going through the program,” South told Mississippi Today recently. “You understand what I’m saying? He never made any visits to any of the students that were going through the program. Why? Where’s your heart? What are you really in this for? You want to help your nephew with this program, but at the same time, how much do you really care about these people in the program that are in your nephew’s situation also?”
“I feel like if you’re going to help your nephew, at least stick your neck out to see who else is out there, to get a better insight for your nephew. At the bare minimum,” he added.
South possessed a GED, had a spotty employment history, received food stamps and experienced homelessness for several years throughout his twenties. Several years ago, he entered a work training program through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
South demonstrated a strong work ethic in the EDGE program, an acronym for “ethics, discipline, goals, employment.” He worked his way up to “gold” status on the WorkKeys assessment, a test used nationwide to gauge a person’s career readiness. The program administrators even labeled him the “MVP” of his cohort.
Within a couple months, South finished the program’s academic portion, which consisted of classes and watching training videos at the local campus of Itawamba Community College. His job coordinator asked him to pick a future career, and South chose veterinarian technician – “the only career I could think of,” he said.
He later told Mississippi Today he felt rushed to make a decision and pressured to pick one of just a few careers that had a clear educational path; South’s coordinator told him he could enroll in the veterinary program at Mississippi State University.
The EDGE program hooked South up with a volunteer position at the Humane Society’s local animal shelter. There, he worked for free washing kennels in exchange for on-the-job training in basic healthcare for the animals, such as learning how to administer vaccines, with the idea that he would eventually secure a paid job in the field. South had an arrangement that he would use his aunt’s car for transportation, but after a couple weeks on the job and a flat tire, she took the car back. He could no longer get to work.
“They was like, ‘Well, basically you had one shot and you missed it. So, after all this, we have to let you go.’ It was like, ‘There’s nothing else we can do for you,’ and they released me. That was it,’” South told Mississippi Today in 2020.
“I lost the car, I lost the job, and that was the end of the program for me,” South said. “I know you wanted a not depressing story but I don’t have one for you. That’s what happened.”
At the time, the Mississippi Department of Human Services was outsourcing more and more of its services to two nonprofits to run a program called Families First for Mississippi, which was supposed to help people like South secure a job, as well as connect to basic resources. South visited the Families First office in north Mississippi when he was homeless to try to find affordable housing, but it never assisted him.
When Bryant’s great-nephew left prison in 2019 after a car burglary conviction, the Families First program almost immediately began paying the young man, while the state’s top welfare officials looked after him intently.
South, on the other hand, said he lost all access to benefits from the department when it kicked him out of the EDGE program. “I was basically red flagged,” South said.
A screenshot from the website of Mississippi Department of Human Services in August of 2020
A brochure for EDGE says that participation in the program will not affect a client’s SNAP benefits – but that wasn’t the case for South. He hasn’t had any interaction with the agency since, he said, “except for every now and then they call me for a survey.”
South, now 30, is between jobs today. After a recent eviction, he’s living in a hotel. But South’s smiling face still appears on the MDHS website. His story is actually the only entry on the “success” page.
“I’m still their little pin on the wall,” he said when he found out. “Oh my gosh, that is frustrating.”
During his time in the MDHS program, South penned an essay about his journey. The welfare agency published an excerpt and titled it “a story of struggle.” Mississippi Today is publishing the entire essay below:
I have to admit, I am in a pretty tough living situation. I have a trivial limitation to hygiene, food, and water utilities. I am currently enrolled in a government funded program through EBT that is assisting me with employment opportunities, through which I acquire limited transportation, incentive pay cards (through strict participation), work skills training courses, a temporary paid internship, and SNAP EBT benefits.
At the moment, I am unemployed without a car, a sufficient place of dwelling, a smart phone, or any cash. I am pretty much the living definition of ample limitations.
I can’t say this is anyone’s fault but my own. I put myself in this situation. I cannot, am not, and will not blame anyone else for this outcome. Yes, maybe I was influenced to make some of my choices, good or bad, still overall I am the one that has made all my choices. Even through losing my mother at a young age, and also friends and family to car wrecks, overdose, and house fires, my choices of progression have surely been my own.
I have seen demons haunt and destroy households, and angels heal with a slight touch of adoration. Basically, I have experienced a wide variety of life. As of recent weeks, I’ve come to realize where I’m now at in life, and how I got here. It could still be a lot worse because, if fact, if it wasn’t for my dad at the moment, I would be cold.
Through my times of struggle I have witnessed, and or experienced, some of the hardest heart-breaking situations. Homeless, hungry, weathered, drug involvement, prostitution, job loss, theft, and also death. Most of my friends and family are, for the most part, all living in prison, pain, and poverty.
Still, I tell you, this is all me. I chose to smoke and drink and involve myself with bad choices, bad situations, and bad influences, as opposed to focusing my time on better possible possibilities. I lost my temper and quit my job(s). I am where I’m at because it’s honestly what I wanted. I chose this life completely by myself. I have had many friends, relatives, even co-workers and church organizations offer me positive help and I neglected it. I wanted what would make me happy right then, or at least get me by.
I can still see the silver lining shining. Through my last few months, with a great deal of principled help, I have opened my eyes to positive concrete possibility. I am now, meekly pursuing a solid career. Like I stated, I am currently enrolled in training courses for job certification.
I have come to the full understanding that life is not necessarily about what I want to do, but more so about what I need to do, so I can achieve the opportunity, to accomplish my desires. So I have set certain obtainable goals by which to achieve my main purpose. I am currently prospecting enrollment into a manufacturing skills training course, to establish a concrete foundation and develop a modest income, to later indulge in my real passion as a certified pet trainer, and in due time, become a veterinarian technician assistant.
In closing, it is still an honor to be alive, although it’s still a struggle to live. I can only blame me for my success, as much as my failures. Thank you, everyone, for your involvement, that has assisted me. If through all this, I have indeed acquired a line of advice to give it would most certainly be, “If it’s not good, righteous, or worthy of grace, it’s not worth being a deciding part of your life. So make sure what you do, is also what you want to inform someone else about tomorrow night.”
This is a supplement to Part 5 of Mississippi Today’s series “The Backchannel,” which examines former Gov. Phil Bryant’s role in the running of his welfare departmentduring what officials have called the largest public embezzlement scheme in state history.
Mississippi’s political leaders have talked for years about cutting the 7% tax on groceries, the highest statewide tax of its kind in the nation in its poorest state.
But those efforts never go anywhere.
Earlier this session, tax cut plans touted by the leadership of both the House and Senate included a cut to the grocery tax in addition to reductions or elimination of the personal income tax.
But the plan finally approved by legislators cuts only the income tax.
“We are not opposed to a grocery tax cut, but as we have said the income tax cut is the priority,” said House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton.
Referencing the $525 million income tax cut that passed during the just-completed session and the negotiations with Senate leaders to develop the plan, Gunn added, “Even with this plan we insisted the $500 million tax break we passed this year be income tax. Some of the negotiations that took place early on had about $120 million of that being grocery tax and we said we are not looking at a $500 million tax cut, which includes $120 million of groceries. We want $500 million in income tax. If y’all want to throw a grocery tax (cut) on top of that, we are fine with that … But we are looking at income tax as the main objective.”
For some time, many have viewed it as a cruel irony that Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation with fewer safety nets in place for the poor, taxes food at the highest rate in the nation. Some states provide local options that place a higher tax on food in individual municipalities or other local governmental entities, but no state levies a higher tax on food statewide.
Most states, recognizing the tax on groceries as a regressive tax that places more of a burden on the poor, either do not tax food or tax it at a lower rate than what is levied on other items.
Through the years Mississippi politicians have talked about cutting or eliminating the tax on food. In the early 2000s, the Legislature, led by Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, made several efforts at eliminating or reducing the tax on food. Most of those efforts offset the lost revenue by increasing the tax on cigarettes.
Then-Gov. Haley Barbour, who previously served as a national tobacco lobbyist, vetoed those efforts. Barbour later acquiesced and signed legislation increasing the 18-cent per pack tax on cigarettes by 50 cents. But interestingly, the governor never agreed to reduce the tax on food. He said it was a fair tax that he supported.
In 2016, when the Legislature, led by then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who is now governor, and Gunn passed at the time what was the largest tax cut it history, nary a dime went for the elimination of the tax on groceries. Instead, there were tax cuts for businesses and on personal income. Research of state Department of Revenue data at the time revealed that most of the companies being aided by the cut were based out of state.
The north star under Barbour and now for many Republican leaders is cutting or eliminating the income tax, which accounts for about one-third of state general fund revenue. Another priority for Mississippi politicians also has been reducing the tax on businesses — primarily large out of state corporations.
It was interesting that the bulk of that tax cut went primarily to out of state corporations in light of an earlier 2013 study by the Department of Revenue that revealed 111 of the state’s 150 largest companies, in terms of employment, paid no income tax. While the companies were not named, the bulk of those companies not paying were likely large out of state retailers.
In 2016, legislation was passed to phase out the franchise tax, which was the only tax many of those companies paid.
Despite the 2016 tax cut and the 2022 tax cut, both of which were billed at the time as the largest in state history, Gunn and Reeves, who also advocate for the elimination of the income tax, both made it clear they are not finished.
The 2022 legislation even includes language saying “it is the intent of the Legislature that before calendar year 2026, the Legislature will consider whether the revised (reduced) tax rates will be further decreased.”
But both Gunn and Reeves point out their intent is to take further steps as soon as possible to wipe from the state tax code the income tax.
“Elimination would be the ultimate goal and we pressed hard for that,” Gunn said.
But that is not the goal for the state’s tax on groceries that disproportionally impacts the poor.
Lance Bass was just another freshman at Clinton High School in 1994 when he auditioned for Attaché, the school’s award-winning show choir. Barely a year later, he was a member of the “boy band” vocal group *NSYNC and well on his way to becoming a teen pop icon.
It’s no coincidence that he spent the intervening time learning how to use his voice and perform under the direction of David and Mary Fehr in what has become known as a showbiz bootcamp and de facto finishing school.
“When I joined Attaché I didn’t dance at all — I had never danced in my life. I’m so glad I got to experience that for a couple of years, because if I wouldn’t have been able to learn choreography in a certain amount of time, there’s no way that I would’ve been able to do *NSYNC.”
Lance Bass
Nashville singer-songwriter Shelly Fairchild — who has three solo albums to her credit, has appeared on records by Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Terri Clark, and has carved a successful niche by placing songs in television shows — had a similar experience after joining Attaché as a shy teenager. So did Broadway star Heath Calvert, known for his roles in “Hair” and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.”
Clinton High School and Attaché Show Choir alums, from left, Lance Bass, Heath Calvert, Brittany Wagner and Shelly Fairchild backstage of the 2022 Attaché Alumni Theatre reunion fundraiser on April 2, 2022. Credit: Courtesy Shelly Fairchild
All three former Clinton High School and Attaché students, with the addition of fellow alums Brittany Wagner, the breakout star of Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” Drew Wardlaw and Max Lyall, appeared onstage at the Attaché Alumni Theater at Clinton High School on April 2.
The four-act performance celebrated the 42nd anniversary of Attaché by bringing alums back to the stage to raise money to support the program, which has earned the title Grand Champion at 85 competitions since 1992. The group’s current run of 23 consecutive Grand Champion wins dates back to 2014, and their 2019 bid was captured in ‘Attaché,’ a PBS and Reel South documentary film.
Bass, in his first Attaché appearance since *NSYNC made their debut as opening act for the group in December 1995, served as host and emcee for the evening. After learning to sing in church choir and while receiving further guidance from Fehr through Attaché, Bass began vocal instruction with Bob Westbrook in Germantown, Tennessee—the same voice coach Justin Timberlake used, and the man who introduced him to Bass when *NSYNC was searching for a bass singer.
Lance Bass emcees the 2022 Attaché Show Choir Alumni Theatre fundraiser event on April 2, 2022, at Clinton High School. Credit: Glynda Heath
Although Bass’s time in Attaché was relatively brief, it opened his eyes to his own talents and changed the course of his life. But much of the inspiration he felt came from watching his classmates. “I got to do ‘West Side Story’ with Shelly Fairchild,” he says. “She was our Maria, and good Lord, we knew then she was going to do something. She was so talented. I was just a freshman then and it was so new to me; I just couldn’t believe that high school students could be so talented.”
Fairchild did find success when she moved to Nashville and signed a record deal with Sony in 2004. The label released her debut album, Ride, the following year, and sent Fairchild on a whirlwind of promotion including radio appearances and concert tours with country music stars Keith Urban, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts. But her journey began when she arrived at Attaché around the same time as the Fehrs, who took over after founder Winona Costello retired.
“The first year that I was there, Mr. David Fehr was our new director,” Fairchild says. “I’ll never forget him coming up to us as we were learning some of the songs and yelling at me in my face, like, ‘Open your mouth, Fairchild!’
Shelly Fairchild performs at the 2022 Ataché Alumni Theatre at Clinton High School on April 2, 2022. Credit: Glynda Heath
“To this day,” she adds, “people will ask me, ‘How in the world do you sing from your toes all the way up through the top of your head?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, if you had David Fehr as a director, then you would understand why your whole body is involved in this.’ So, it really made a big difference in my life.”
Heath Calvert, a 1997 Clinton High School graduate and Attaché alum, performs at Clinton High School for the annual Attaché Alumni Theatre fundraiser. Credit: Glynda Heath
Fairchild remembers when Fehr brought Heath Calvert, then a freshman, to the group — an unheard-of move, since membership was usually open to students beginning with the sophomore year. He had just moved to Clinton, and while his mannerisms weren’t disrespectful — he didn’t say “sir” or “ma’am” like most of his new peers, Fehr says — they were a hard sell with his teachers. He had racked up nine detentions for such minor infractions, and one more would suspend him from school and activities.
“I went ahead and gave him his 10th detention so that he could serve his one day or whatever. It was so that we wouldn’t miss the performances coming up,” Fehr laughs.
Attaché alums (from left: Heath Calvert, Brittany Wagner, Lance Bass, Lindsey Fairchild Lenoir and Drew Wardlaw) perform as part of a surprise act for directors David and Mary Fehr at the Attaché Alumni Theatre fundraiser event on April 2, 2002. Credit: Glynda Heath
On April 2, alums performed solo, in pairs and in groups throughout the three-hour program. Calvert performed “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz and “Anthem” from the musical ‘Chess,’ while the current Attaché students performed their 2022 competition showcase, “Vacation!” Bass and Wagner joined the chorus for a number of songs.
The third act, though, was all about the Fehrs. Fairchild debuted “What We Leave,” a song she wrote specially for the event, as a duet with her sister, Lindsey Fairchild Lenoir. The performance was a surprise to the Fehrs, organizers and the audience, but the current students were in on it; Fairchild recruited the daughter of a friend to circulate the lyrics to them so they could join her on the song’s finale.
Shelly Fairchild performs her original song, “What We Leave,” a song she wrote for the 2022 Attaché Alumni Theatre fundraiser event at Clinton High School on April 2, 2022. Credit: Glynda Heath
While Attaché provides the platform for students to explore their talents, they also learn life skills, Fehr stresses. Work ethic is crucial to the success of the students who perform and those who run the show after graduation; perseverance is another. Fehr recalls a competition in California where Wagner performed while in pain from a broken finger she suffered during warm-ups, a show of grit and determination the public would later see on “Last Chance U.”
“It’s not the amount of time you put into something, but the quality of work that you put into something…Everybody says they work hard. Well, no, some people just waste a lot of time, [unless they are] working with a purpose or understanding what [they’re] working towards.”
David Fehr
“We produce just good kids; the talent and desire comes from good families,” he adds. “Don’t credit that to Attaché. I can develop whatever is there and help them out, but those families and kids, they have goals and missions, and my job is to help them along. But the 90 percent that don’t go into the arts, they’re still getting the same thing.”
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