Feb. 11 (UPI) — A day after filing a defamation suit, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre sought to dismiss a lawsuit against him filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
In Friday’s motion to dismiss, Favre contends he has committed no wrongdoing as the state seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent public money, court documents show.
“Brett Favre has done nothing wrong,” lawyers for the 53-year-old former Green Bay Packers star wrote in their preliminary statement. “MDHS still does not and cannot allege that he did. The claims against him in MDHS’s Amended Complaint fail as abjectly as did those in its first complaint, and they must be dismissed.”
Favre asserts in the filing that there is “no factual or legal basis” to include him in the state’s lawsuit, in which it is seeking to recover public funds it claims were misspent.
As a result, the former athlete has endured a “defamatory torrent of negative publicity,” the motion states.
He claims the agency should instead focus its attention on itself and “those responsible for spending and monitoring its funds.”
The agency is targeting him “to try to deflect responsibility for its own egregious wrongdoing,” the ex-athlete’s lawyers assert in the filing.
Favre, who is from Gulfport, Miss., is not currently facing any criminal charges.
Six other people involved in the $77 million fraud case, however, are facing charges, including former MDHS executive director John Davis, who pleaded guilty in September to federal counts of wire fraud and theft. He is cooperating with investigators as part of the plea deal.
Earlier this week Favre’s lawyers filed defamation suits against NFL commentators Shannon Sharpe and Pat McAfee, as well as Mississippi’s state auditor Shad White.
Sharpe is being sued for saying on his daily Fox Sports TV show that Favre “stole money from people who really needed that money.” McAfee, who also has his own syndicated radio and YouTube show, made similar comments.
The case involving Favre alleges he was paid $1.1 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds for four speeches that were never performed.
The state is also suing Favre along with former professional wrestler Ted DiBiase and over two dozen other people and companies to recover the misspent welfare money.
The civil lawsuit against 38 parties came following an audit report published in September.
At least $5 million worth of welfare funds were also used to build a new volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi, where Favre’s daughter played. He championed the cause, helping to raise funds.
It is collectively the largest public fraud case in Mississippi history.