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Xuan Thai
CloseXuan Thai
ESPN Senior Writer
- Xuan Thai is a senior writer and producer in ESPN’s investigative and enterprise unit. She was previously deputy bureau chief of the south region for NBC News.
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Anthony Olivieri
Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre will testify during a congressional hearing about the need for welfare reform Tuesday, the communications director for the House Ways and Means committee confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
The committee’s website lists the hearing as “Reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): States’ Misuse of Welfare Funds Leaves Poor Families Behind.”
TANF funds are at the heart of the sprawling Mississippi welfare case in which Favre has been embroiled since 2022. At least $77 million in TANF funds, earmarked for poor families, were diverted to the rich and powerful people, according to a Mississippi state audit.
Favre is one of dozens of defendants in a civil lawsuit seeking to recoup the misappropriated funds. He has denied wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.
House Ways and Means communications director J.P. Freire did not give further details about Favre’s scheduled appearance. A spokesperson for Favre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Favre could face questions from the committee about what he knew about the origin of the money for a volleyball facility at his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, as well as Prevacus, a company developing a concussion drug in which Favre was the top outside investor and stockholder.
Text messages made public in legal filings show Favre pushed state officials for funding for the volleyball facility during the time his daughter was on the team. The university’s athletic foundation received $5 million in TANF funds. Favre donated $1.4 million of his own money to construct the facility.
Text messages also show Favre asking state officials for help in securing funds for Prevacus, which received $2 million in TANF funds. Prevacus’s founder, Jacob VanLandingham, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in July, admitting that he used Mississippi welfare money to pay off gambling and other debts.
Favre was also paid $1.1 million from TANF funds for speeches the state auditor says Favre never made. He eventually paid the money back, but the auditor has demanded he also pay $228,000 in interest.
Punchbowl News was first to report Favre’s appearance at the hearing.
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