JACKSON, Miss.—Mississippi State Auditor Shad White’s attempt to sue NFL Hall of Fame athlete Brett Favre to claw back misspent welfare money brought him into conflict at the state’s high court against a fellow high-ranking Republican, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
The attorney general believes she should have the sole authority to instigate and lead lawsuits on behalf of the State of Mississippi, while White contends that he should be able to initiate cases and turn them over to Fitch to handle. The Mississippi Supreme Court heard both sides of the argument on Jan. 20.
Neither White nor Fitch appeared before the state’s high court for the hearing. Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart represented the attorney general and attorney Clay Baldwin of Baldwin Law Firm argued on behalf of the auditor.
Mississippi Constitution Section 7-5-1 describes the duties of the state’s attorney general, including the notion that “No arm or agency of the state government shall bring or defend a suit against another arm or agency without prior written approval of the Attorney General,” Stewart said in his opening remarks on Jan. 20.
The Mississippi attorney general has the ultimate authority over litigation and whether, when and how to file a lawsuit, the solicitor general told the Mississippi Supreme Court.
“The question becomes: Does another statute here provide that sort of sweeping, clear language providing that the auditor has power to bring and control litigation on the state’s behalf? And I think the answer is clearly no,” Stewart told the Mississippi Supreme Court on Jan. 20.
He argued that Mississippi Constitution Section 7-7-211, which describes the state auditor’s duties, does not include such authority.
When it was his turn to speak before the seven justices, Baldwin explained that the auditor’s office is not staffed with attorneys to handle the case. White filed the case and now “competent counsel” must litigate the case, he said. That counselor should be the attorney general, but her office has “refused to do it,” he added.
“Nowhere has the auditor ever disputed that it is not the role and within the power and the authority of the attorney general to prosecute the case,” Baldwin told the justices on Jan. 20.
“I guess I’m confused (about) exactly what we are fighting over,” Justice Josiah Coleman said on Jan. 20.
“We’re fighting over the fact that what the attorney general has done, your honor, conflates what’s being included in the term ‘prosecute,’” Baldwin responded.
He added that lawyers who work in the auditor’s office are in advisory roles. They don’t litigate, Baldwin said, so the auditor relies on the attorney general for that and “has repeatedly called on the attorney general to represent these cases.”
White’s attorney said the auditor has the duty to act on behalf of other state agencies to determine if any entity or person owes any money to the State. If the auditor’s office uncovers misspent money, the person who received the illicit funds has 30 days to return them to the State. If the money is not paid within that timeframe, the auditor has the authority to institute a case while the attorney general “shall prosecute the case,” he said, quoting the Mississippi Constitution.
Justice Kenneth Griffis said the auditor can refer potential lawsuits to the attorney general and let her take over the case. Working on behalf of the “state’s interest” is the attorney general’s most important job and she has a duty to defend it, he added.
“I would ask the court to hold that the attorney general is the one, who in the context of litigation, was entrusted as a statutory and constitutional matter to make that ultimate determination of what is best for litigation for the state of Mississippi, including recovering money and prosecuting on Mississippi’s behalf,” the justice said on Jan. 20.
The Mississippi Supreme Court, which currently comprises seven justices, will not likely make a decision in the case for several months. At this time, the Court only has seven justices instead of nine because President Donald Trump appointed two justices to serve as U.S. district judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and the U.S. Senate confirmed those nominations.
In 2021, White referred Brett Favre, former NFL player Marcus DuPree, retired pro-wrestlers Ted DiBiase Sr., Ted DiBiase Jr., Brett DiBiase, former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis and others to Fitch’s office to recover misspent welfare funds, including interest.
White investigated the welfare scandal, which saw $77 million in Temporary Assistance For Needy Families funds diverted to improper uses. Professional football Hall of Fame athlete Brett Favre received $1.1 million in TANF funds to record promotional material for a nonprofit in 2017. The lawsuit claimed that “Favre voluntarily repaid all the funds,” but while he did pay back $500,000 in May 2020 after news of the welfare scandal broke, the sports celebrity did not pay the remaining $600,000 until after White issued a demand letter for it in late 2021. Favre did not pay back an additional $228,000 in interest the auditor demanded and is now a target of the state’s sweeping civil lawsuit over the welfare scandal.
Favre has said he did not know any of the funds he received came from welfare funds. He has denied all wrongdoing, and prosecutors have not charged him with a crime. Favre filed a defamation lawsuit against White in February 2023. Fitch’s office withdrew her representation of White in that case in 2024, citing the auditor’s criticisms of her in his book, “Mississippi Swindle.” In the book, he characterizes her as uninterested in pursuing the welfare case; Fitch’s office has not been involved in any of the prosecutions since the scandal came to light in 2020. White has publicly referred to the attorney general as “lazy Lynn.”
Before White’s office exposed the welfare scandal alongside Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, Fitch and Favre filmed television ads as part of a campaign to encourage Mississippians to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020.
Ted DiBiase Sr. has not been accused of a crime in the welfare scandal, though he and his Christian ministry are targets in the State’s civil lawsuit. Ted DiBiase Jr. is currently on trial for federal charges. Brett DiBiase has pleaded guilty to crimes in exchange for a plea deal. Davis has pleaded guilty and recently served as a witness at Ted DiBiase Jr.’s trial.