Brett Favre set to break silence on Mississippi Welfare 'scandal' in upcoming testimony: Report

Brett Favre will finally offer his first sworn testimony in court related to the Mississippi welfare 'scandal'. In a report by Front Office Sports, federal criminal defense attorney Matt Tympanick said,

“Brett Favre better tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Otherwise, he can add perjury to his long list of potential charges.”

The former Green Bay Packers quarterback and Hall-of-Famer will testify in relation to allegations that he was given an unfair advantage for his pet projects from government funds.

The ex-NFL player reportedly got $8 million in various funds from the Mississippi Department of Human services that went to him and a drug company where he was the largest investor. A part also went to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation, which is his alma mater and where his daughter was a volleyball player.

Brett Favre has stridently denied that he knew that these funds were coming from TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funds. Now, he will get to make the same case in front of the law.

Complicating his central assertion, though, are publicly available text messages that seem to show that he felt the need to hide the source of the funds he was receiving. In a message to Nancy New, who ran a non-profit, he asked,

“If you were to pay me, is there anyway [sic] the media can find out where it came from and how much?”

Nancy New, her son Zach New and former head of MDHS, John Davis, have all pleaded guilty in the case. It is the largest corruption scandal allegation in Mississippi history and that they used some of the funds allocated for the neediest people in the poorest state of the union has left a bad taste for many.

Brett Favre refuses to plead the Fifth Amendment

Brett Favre has refused to plead the Fifth Amendment which gives him the right againt self-incrimination. His attorneys had said in a court filing that he did not intend to use it. However, Tympanick advised that it might be bad strategy, adding,

“It would be my advice to invoke it in this matter. Any statement he makes could potentially be used as impeachment evidence in a potential criminal case.”

The former Green Bay Packers legend has always spoken out against the allegations leveled against him, going so far as to sue Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee for their comments on the matter. Now, he gets his chance in the court to show that he was not guilty, but merely uninformed.