Pulitzer-winning reporter who detailed Brett Favre's alleged role in Mississippi welfare scandal facing prison time

Brett Favre's alleged embezzlement of welfare funds is one of the biggest controversies to happen in the history of the state of Mississippi. Anna Wolfe was the reporter who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2023 for uncovering almost every detail of it. Now she may face potential jail time.

Mississippi Today's Anna Wolfe and her editor, Adam Ganucheau, are now facing a defamation suit filed by former state governor Phil Bryant. It pertains not to their reporting itself, but rather to newspaper CEO Mary Margaret White's comments that had wrongly accused him of committing a crime.

NBC News reported that unless Wolfe and Ganucheau follow a court order to turn over certain documents, they may be imprisoned. Bryant's lawyer Billy Quin said of the development:

“The upshot is ‘you embezzled $77 million and the criminal authorities aren’t doing anything about it’. So here we are to give one of their favorite words, accountability, to the situation. Well, the rabbit’s got the gun now; we’ll see who’s going to be accountable.”

Wolfe, meanwhile, plans to oppose the order.

“How can I make promises to sources that I’m going to keep them confidential if this is possible? It makes it harder to do my job. ... It feels like now, anything that I try to report is going to be met with the same level of gaslighting and intimidation and scrutiny.”

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Brett Favre's alleged embezzlement scandal: A brief explanation

The first embezzlement allegations against Brett Favre became public knowledge in February 2020. He was implicated in a scheme that diverted millions in welfare and other public funds to a nonprofit organization that then diverted the money to a drug company he was involved in.

Then in May 2020, an audit in Mississippi alleged that its Department of Human Services had diverted $94 million allocated to helping the needy. Favre received $1.1 million of it for two speaking appearances that he ultimately did not uphold.

He denied (and still denies) the charges, posting on his then-Twitter account:

The Hall of Fame quarterback would not be mentioned again until 2022. Mississippi Today revealed a text conversation between him and Phil Bryant about diverting $5 million in federal welfare funds towards other projects, including a new volleyball venue at Favre's alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi.

In relation to the scandal, Brett Favre also sued fellow Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe and former punter-turned-sportscaster Pat McAfee for defamation. The former suit was dismissed, while he voluntarily dropped the latter after receiving an apology.