Brett Favre has turned to Fox News to defend himself. The Pro Football Hall of Famer is currently getting national coverage for his alleged involvement in a Mississippi welfare scandal.
“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre said in a statement provided exclusively to Fox News Digital. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight.”
Favre is accused of requesting $5 million of welfare funds to renovate all Southern Miss athletic facilities, including the volleyball court when his daughter played for the team. He also allegedly was trying to take more state funds to renovate the school’s football facilities in an effort to recruit Shedeur Sanders.
“No one ever told me, and I did not know, that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me,” Favre said. “I tried to help my alma mater USM, a public Mississippi state university, raise funds for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the athletic facilities at my university.
“State agencies provided the funds to Nancy New’s charity, the Mississippi Community Education Center, which then gave the funds to the University, all with the full knowledge and approval of other State agencies, including the State-wide Institute for Higher Learning, the Governor’s office and the Attorney General’s office.
“I was told that the legal work to ensure that these funds could be accepted by the university was done by State attorneys and State employees.”
Mississippi auditor Shad White told Fox News the Southern Miss volleyball grant was approved for the benefit of the Hattiesburg community, and it hasn’t been used for that. There have been multiple guilty pleas in the Mississippi welfare scandal case, including Mississippi Department of Human Services official John Davis.
Favre has not been criminally charged.
