In May 2020, reports of a wide-ranging corruption scandal involving the Mississippi Department of Human services emerged. An article in the local paper, Mississippi Today, stated that a report by the state auditor highlighted concerns that up to 94 million dollars in Mississippi DHS funds were allotted to charities that had close links to prominent Mississippians. In one of the most high-profile cases, the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC), run by Nancy New, funneled 5 million dollars into building a new volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi. The person pushing for the facility to be built was none other than former Super Bowl winning quarterback Brett Favre, a graduate of USM. Favre’s daughter attended the school at the time and played on the volleyball team. At around the same time, John Davis, the head of the Mississippi DHS, awarded 2 million dollars to the Heart of David Ministry, owned by a friend of Davis, Ted Dibiase, a former WWE wrestler better known as the “Million Dollar Man.” Fast forward to September of last year, and Davis pled guilty to two federal charges, one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.
It is suggested that former Republican governor Phil Bryant and Ms. New helped Favre obtain federal money that would be directed toward the volleyball facility. One of the main reasons this scandal has caused such an uproar is that for many years the state of Mississippi has turned down federal money to help improve its health and education systems, which are among the worst in the nation. Last week Favre released a statement saying that he had nothing to do with the scandal despite solid rumors to the contrary.
Crispin Corruption Report 