Former NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a Mississippi welfare program, appeared before a Republican-led congressional committee investigating how states are failing to use welfare to support needy families – and admitted that he is also battling Parkinson’s disease.
“Unfortunately, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug that I thought would help others,” Favre said. “I’m sure you’ll understand, even though it’s too late for me, because I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This is also a matter of the heart. Recently, the doctor who runs the company pleaded guilty to embezzling TANF funds for his own purposes.
Favre, 54, was referring to the former pharmaceutical company Prevacus, which received $2 million in funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
A spokesman for the committee, JP Freire, confirmed to the Associated Press on Friday that Favre had been invited by the chairman, Republican Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri. Favre answered questions “according to standard witness policy,” Freire said.
This was the first time Favre mentioned that he had Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disease that affects the nervous system and causes the weakening of nerve cells in parts of the brain, leading to problems with balance, movement and walking, and can also cause tremors and muscle stiffness.
House Republicans have said a welfare-spending scandal in Mississippi involving Favre and others highlights the need for “serious reform” of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
“Democrats have failed to hold a single hearing on TANF or conduct oversight to identify ways to improve the program,” Republicans on the Budget Committee said in a November 2022 letter to U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The letter did not mention that Republicans currently control Mississippi’s government, unlike during the social spending scandal, which authorities called the largest case of public corruption in the state.
Mississippi has been one of the poorest states in the U.S. for decades, but only a fraction of the state’s welfare benefits reach families. Instead, the Mississippi Department of Social Services allowed well-connected people to waste tens of millions in welfare money from 2016 to 2019, according to Mississippi Comptroller Shad White and state and federal prosecutors.
Favre has not faced criminal charges, but he is one of more than three dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit the state filed in 2022. The lawsuit seeks repayment of money misappropriated through TANF.
White, a Republican, said in 2020 that Favre improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit that spent social services with the approval of the state Department of Human Services. White said Favre did not show up for the speeches. Although Favre has repaid the $1.1 million, he still owes nearly $730,000 in interest, White said.
The TANF money was to be used for a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter began playing on the volleyball team in 2017. Favre was once the largest single outside investor and shareholder in Prevacus, whose founder pleaded guilty to wire fraud in July.
A nonprofit group called the Mississippi Community Education Center made two welfare payments to Favre Enterprises, the athlete’s company: $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018.
According to court documents, on December 27, 2017, Favre texted the center’s director, Nancy New: “Nancy Santa came by today and dropped off some money (two smiling emojis), thank you, my goodness, thank you.”
“Yes, he did,” New replied. “He said you were pretty good this year!”
New pleaded guilty to embezzling welfare funds in April 2022, as did her son, Zachary New, who ran the nonprofit. They are awaiting sentencing and have agreed to testify against others.
Favre said he did not know the payments he received came from social funds, pointing out that his charity has donated millions of dollars to poor children in his home state of Mississippi and in Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.
Punchbowl News was first to report on Favre’s appearance before the Ways and Means Committee.
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