Why was former Packers quarterback Brett Favre testifying to U.S. Congress about welfare funds in Mississippi?

(This story has been updated to add a video and photos.)

Brett Favre said during a congressional hearing Tuesday that he'd recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, an incurable, degenerative nervous-system disorder characterized by tremors and slowed movements.

Favre's place at the hearing stems from a much-publicized welfare scandal in Mississippi, in which $77 million was funneled away from a program for needy families into other ventures, including to projects for which Favre advocated. Favre has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing. Though he repaid $1.1 million in speaking fees that were deemed improper, he is part of a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services seeking to reclaim additional funds; namely close to $730,000 of interest.

Here's why Favre came to the hearing in Washington, D.C.:

What was Brett Favre's role in the Mississippi fraud scandal?

Text messages show that Favre was working closely with Human Services executive John Davis and nonprofit director Nancy New, in an effort to fundraise money for a volleyball facility at the University of Southern Missisippi. Both Davis and New have been arrested for their role in misusing federal money from a program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), distributed to each state as a block grant. The volleyball facility construction used $5 million of federal dollars.

New's nonprofit was among the organizations tasked with appropriately distributing the money given to Mississippi through TANF. One particularly high-profile text message was Favre's message to New in August 2017, 'If you were to pay me is there anyway (sic) the media can find out where it came from and how much?'”

Favre also sought to raise money for a biomedical startup called Prevacus, reaching out to New and former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. New sent money to Prevacus as well, and Prevacus founder Jake VanLandingham pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud in July.

An audit showed that Favre was paid $1.1 million for a speaking engagements for which he did not show; Favre denied he did not show but repaid the money by October 2021. Favre was first sued by Mississippi in May 2022.

Has Brett Favre been charged with wrongdoing?

Favre has not been charged with any crime. He has maintained he didn't know the origin of the money that was ultimately used for the volleyball facility. He is one of 43 defendants in a lawsuit, however, for unpaid interest on the $1.1 million he was given for speaking engagements; a state audit found that Favre did not attend those events.

Several others, including New (with whom Favre exchanged a number of text messages in seeking money) have been charged.

What has Brett Favre been asked about at the congressional hearing?

Favre's testimony to the Ways and Means committee in Washington is under a suppression order on account of the lawsuit; he is therefore barred from testifying about the lawsuit itself. Favre has sought to lift that gag order.

“Instead, I’m here to share what I’ve now seen up close, about how reforms are needed to stop the misspending of TANF funds," he said.

Ways and Means is discussing the creation of additional guardrails for the process of distributing TANF funds to the states.

When will the civil case against Brett Favre begin?

As of July, when a lawyer was removed from Favre's legal team for violating state-court procedures, the case was still in the discovery phase, and no trial date has been set.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why Brett Favre was testifying before Congress about welfare money