State Auditor Shad White (Photo from MS OSA Facebook)
- White argues that the case threatens First Amendment rights and discourages public servants from doing their job.
State Auditor Shad White has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to dismiss a personal defamation lawsuit filed against him by NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre.
In his appeal of Hinds County Circuit Judge Debra Gibbs’ order denying his motion to dismiss Favre’s claims, White says the case presents important questions of First Amendment law about which there exist clear differences of opinion.
“The continued litigation of this case not only threatens important First Amendment rights. Equally if not more worrisomely, it discourages public servants from doing their jobs,” White’s legal counsel Alysson Mills writes in the appeal. “Favre uses this case to relitigate a state audit of the misuse of welfare funds, five years and seven criminal convictions later. He uses discovery to demean the very public employees whose hard work helped uncover the fraud. The injury is not merely to White but to a state office and to the integrity of the public fisc.”
Judge Gibbs has denied two motions to dismiss by White, the most recent in February.
Favre filed the lawsuit against White in 2023 over statements the State Auditor made in media outlets related to the former quarterback’s ties to the misuse of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF funds. The Southern Miss and Green Bay Packers legend has maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.
Favre’s legal team later amended the complaint to include statements by White in his book outlining the scandal at the Mississippi Department of Human Services which was made public in 2020 titled “Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America.”
In total, some 15 statements made by White to CNN, ESPN, and other media outlets are in question in the defamation suit.
The case is set for a jury trial on July 21 of this year. White argues that a stay in the case would avoid additional time and expenses.
“Because a jury trial is set for July 21, 2025, if a stay is not granted, the parties and the court will incur the substantial additional expense in time and resources that continued litigation and trial will cost,” White’s legal counsel states.
Gibbs has determined that the suit is being brought against White personally and not in his official capacity. White disagrees, as the statements in question in the case arose while conducting his official duties.
The State Auditor had to retain outside legal counsel in this case after Attorney General Lynn Fitch withdrew the office’s representation of White in the lawsuit. Fitch contended at the time that the content of White’s book created a conflict of interest for her office and fell outside the scope of the Auditor’s official duties.
However, James Bobo, an attorney with the State Auditor’s Office, continues to be listed among White’s legal counsel as the Auditor maintains that the statements in question by Favre were made in his official capacity.
You can read White’s request of the Mississippi Supreme Court below.
Frank Corder
