According to leaked text messages, Governor Tate Reeves’ talked to Brett Favre about using State funds for volleyball facilities even though he had vowed to sponsor his alma mater.
Mississippi Free Press got the details;
Brett Favre sought Gov. Tate Reeves’ help to get state funds to pay for volleyball facilities that the former NFL star had vowed to personally fund at his alma mater, according to text messages the Mississippi Free Press obtained through a public-records request to the governor’s office.
In 2017, before Reeves was governor, the Mississippi Department of Human Services directed $5 million in Temporary Assistance For Needy Families welfare funds to build a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi, Favre’s alma mater. His daughter, Breleigh Favre, was starting a volleyball career at USM that year. But even after getting help from MDHS officials, the celebrity athlete still owed the university at least $1.6 million for the project upon its completion in January 2020.
On Jan. 26, 2020, Favre sent a text to former Gov. Phil Bryant, who had just left the job weeks earlier, asking if he could “think of anyone or any other way of getting funding for the remainder of Vball.” Bryant revealed those text messages in September court filings as part of a civil case over misspent TANF funds.
In the messages, Bryant told Favre that the state auditor was still conducting an investigation “into spending at the Department of Human Services” and that he may need to “visit” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Reeves, then the new governor, to seek funding from the Legislature.
“I just sent Tate a message,” Favre told him.
The text messages that Gov. Reeves’ office sent in response to this publication’s public-records request for texts between him and Favre, however, do not include any texts on Jan. 26, 2020; the first one in the batch of documents is dated Jan. 27, 2020, at 11:49 a.m. The Mississippi Free Press asked the governor’s office about the discrepancy on Wednesday, but has not received a response.
“Hey bud we set to talk today at 2 Todd said,” Favre wrote to Reeves in the first Jan. 27 text. (It is not clear who “Todd” is). Reeves replied with a thumbs-up emoji. At 2:01 p.m., Favre asked Reeves if he was free to talk. “Yes sir,” Reeves replied.
Another text from Favre to Reeves later that afternoon makes it clear that the two discussed the volleyball facility during their phone call.
“Failed to mention but there will be state programs using the facility like seminars,teen rallies,obesity campaigns etc…,” the athlete wrote at 3:55 p.m. “Again thanks I know you have many requests,” Favre added. He shared another thought 15 hours later, at 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 28, 2020: “And name it after Governor Bryant.” The text messages do not include a response from Reeves to any of those messages.
Starting in 2017, Favre began asking for then-Gov. Bryant for help funding the volleyball program. The 2017 text messages that Bryant disclosed earlier this year show that the ex-governor said he would help “raise money,” but do not mention state funds.
By July 2017, however, Favre was in contact with Nancy New, whose nonprofit, the Mississippi Community Education Center, controlled millions in state welfare funds. That month, New arranged a meeting with then-Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, who agreed to spend $4 million (later $5 million) in TANF funds on the volleyball project through New’s nonprofit.
After Favre told New the facility would cost more than expected, she used TANF funds to personally pay him $1.1 million through MCEC, supposedly in exchange for promotional work and speeches. The costs would continue to rise as the project grew to include an adjacent outdoor beach volleyball facility next to the 28,000-square-foot stadium.
TANF funds are federal dollars intended to help poor families with children, but under Davis, MDHS rejected nearly 99% of poor welfare applicants in 2016 as he moved tens of millions in TANF funds through MCEC and toward projects favored by wealthy and powerful individuals—including celebrity athletes.
Flip to the next page for the leaked text messages…