MS Auditor releases book on welfare scandal. See what he says about Brett Favre, key players

As the window to bring charges against people connected to the Mississippi Welfare Scandal nears a close, State Auditor Shad White is hoping his new book, "Mississippi Swindle," will provide a roadmap for people wanting to know everything from the initial investigation by his office to the court cases currently underway.

"I hope that this summarizes the story of the welfare scandal all in one spot," White said. "So, for anybody who wants to understand what happened here, they're able to pick this book up and read it."

White released the book Tuesday after taking about two years writing it. In it, he details the story of the $100 million scandal beginning with his role as the Mississippi State Auditor, his office's investigations, reports and his efforts to work with prosecutors to bring justice to people proven to have misused TANF funds via the Mississippi Department of Human Services. It also discusses the scandal's key players.

In an interview Tuesday during a book signing event at Lemuria Books off Interstate 55 North in Jackson, White told the Clarion Ledger there is nothing in the book that prosecutors do not already have, and that it will simply serve as a way for readers to learn about the scandal.

"We're at that interesting moment now where, because the facts have been dug up and because they're out there, we're at the end of this thing," White said. "It's not the beginning, it's not the middle. This is the end. We're in the final period where prosecutors have a shot to make a decision about what they want to do."

In 2020, White released an audit report showing gross misuse of TANF spending totaling more than $100 million. Since the, MDHS has filed a lawsuit to reclaim those misspent funds from people, including former Southern Miss and NFL football player Brett Favre, more than three dozen other individuals, companies and groups.

Two other defendants in the case, Nancy and Zachary New, pleaded guilty in 2022 to several charges, including bribing a public official, fraud against the government and wire fraud, among others.

Most of the crimes relating to the welfare scandal have a five-year statute of limitations for prosecution.

White said he also discusses Favre extensively in the book, and what the auditor's office found relating to his part in the welfare scandal. Since 2020, Favre has repaid about $500,000 to the state in May 2020 and $600,000 in October 2021.

However, White said in February that Favre still owes more than $729,000 because of growing interest in the funds he initially owed, and he is suing the former professional athlete to reclaim those funds for the state.

Favre is also suing White for defamatory statements made on X, formerly known as Twitter.

More Fitch suing White Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch sues Auditor Shad White related to Brett Favre, welfare scandal

"He is discussed extensively in the book," White said. "I don't think that this will change the litigation that's ongoing. The litigation that he has against me is based on three statements that I made, all of which are factual."

Earlier this year, Fitch dropped White as a client in Favre's defamation lawsuit against White. At the time, White told reporters it was because the office was unhappy with Fitch being mentioned in the book, and after receiving an advanced copy, they notified the auditor's office the attorney general was no longer representing White.

"I still have no idea what exactly they read in the book that made them so mad that they dropped me as a client, but it does criticize the attorney general in there for a failure to participate in the case," White said Tuesday.

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office is part of the state's legal team representing MDHS, but Jones Walker LLP is the primary litigator. Fitch is also suing to block White from pursuing the $729,000 from Favre because he does not have jurisdiction to do so, she argued.

White said the book may come as a shock to some readers as he calls out the various players of the welfare scandal, but that he also thinks it is an important read for Mississippians. Hopefully, he said, it could help to prevent a second scandal of similar magnitude from occurring.

"I do expect it to create some shock waves, simply because some folks are not going to be used to being called out, and that's part of getting the truth out there," White said. "For that reason, I think that makes it an important reason for taxpayers to pick it up and to understand what happened."

One of the books reviewers, author and retired journalist and University of Mississippi Professor Curtis Wilkie wrote that the book is a fast-paced story detailing the scandal and its many players.

"Mississippi's Auditor Shad White names names in his fast-paced account of the plunder of $100 million in welfare funds by corrupt officials and their well-connected associates and reveals a lack of cooperation and outright opposition to the investigation by prosecutors, legislators, and other powerful figures that was almost as maddening as the theft itself," Wilkie wrote in a review printed on the back of the book.

Read latest on welfare case Attorney for Favre in MS welfare scandal lawsuit removed from case

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Shad White wants new book to recap Mississippi Welfare Scandal history