Mississippi Today
Court filing alleges Gov. Phil Bryant directed welfare funds for illegal volleyball and concussion drug projects
For the first time in a court filing, a key defendant in the Mississippi welfare scandal is alleging that former Gov. Phil Bryant was behind the use of welfare agency grant funds for two projects now deemed illegal.
The nonprofit founded by Nancy New, one of the central figures of the scheme, is alleging that Bryant was involved in directing welfare funds towards the construction of a volleyball stadium and a pharmaceutical startup company โ two projects former NFL quarterback Brett Favre lobbied officials to support. Favre has also alleged that Bryant supported the nonprofit’s payments to the two ventures.
โBased on the foregoing, as well as evidence that will be presented at trial, Bryant was involved, both directly and indirectly, in directing, approving, facilitating, and/or furthering MDHS’s use of federal grant funds for Prevacus and for construction of the USM volleyball center,โ reads a Dec. 12 court filing by Mississippi Community Education Center’s attorney Gerry Bufkin.
Bryant has previously denied involvement in the use of welfare funds for either project. Through his attorney, Bryant declined to answer questions about the allegations made in the Dec. 12 filing. Bryant, who is suing Mississippi Today for defamation, has sent threats to the news outlet for continuing to report this story, including basic updates about public court documents.
The court filing also details how at least some of the welfare money sent to the concussion drug company Prevacus may have actually ended up in the hands of scammers in Ghana.
READ MORE: Mississippi welfare funds wound up in a Ghanaian gold bar hoax, court filing alleges
New is one of eight criminal defendants and 47 civil defendants that Mississippi Department of Human Services is suing in an attempt to recoup $77 million in stolen or misspent federal funds.
Last year, New alleged in a filing that Bryant instructed her to make a $1.1 million payment directly to Favre, but this is the first time she or her nonprofit have alleged Bryant was behind payments to the other Favre projects.
Mississippi Community Education Center’s 81-page answer to the complaint, filed Dec. 12, alleges that Bryant conferred with then-agency director John Davis to channel agency grant funds towards the projects, but that the state has purposefully left the former governor out of the lawsuit. The filing also argues that the welfare department has been exploiting flexibility in federal law around state spending since the inception of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 1996.
โBy omitting Bryant, and by attempting to disavow Davis, MDHS seeks to distance itself from its 25-year course of performance in relation to TANF and other grant expenditures,โ the filing reads.
This is a similar argument to those made by other defendants such as Favre, fitness trainer Paul Lacoste and the nephew of the former welfare director.
The timeline
The latest court filing contains a lengthy timeline of Bryant’s alleged involvement in the Favre projects using texts and documents, most of which have been previously produced in court or published by Mississippi Today.
The relevant messages include texts New has produced between herself and Favre and Bryant; texts Bryant produced between himself and Favre; texts Vanlandingham produced between himself, Bryant and Favre and other associates.
The texts contain gaps that defendant testimony โ which has not yet been gathered โ may fill. Mississippi Community Education Center’s latest filing contains references to records and unspecified โevidence that will be presented at trialโ to back up its claims against the former governor.
The following is an abbreviated timeline of the events as described in the court document. It reflects only Mississippi Community Education Center’s side of the story, and Bryant is not a defendant in the case.
Nov. 1, 1996: Phil Bryant became Mississippi’s State Auditor, the same year Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which replaced the former entitlement cash welfare program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.
Jan. 11, 2016: Elected governor four years earlier, Bryant appointed John Davis as the director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
April 20, 2017: Favre first texted Bryant to say that he was working to build a volleyball facility on University of Southern Mississippi’s campus, and โI need your influence somehow to get donations and or sponsorships.โ
July 2017: Favre again asked for the governor’s help, texting, โyou are the governor and on our side and that’s a good thing.โ The governor communicated with Davis, the filing alleges. Davis then met with Favre, New and others at USM, where Davis committed $4 million to the project.
August 2017: USM would not immediately accept the funds. Favre contacted Bryant for help, the filing alleges, then Bryant contacted New. New texted Favre, โWow, just got off phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!โ Days later, USM accepted the grant funds after someone arranged a deal that the university could take $1 million of it for its own improvement projects.
September 2017: Worried about a funding shortfall for the volleyball facility, Favre again contacted the governor, the court filing alleges โbased on information and belief.โ โI saw the Governor last night,โ New texted Favre. โIt’s all going to work out.โ Soon after, the filing alleges, the welfare agency increased its commitment from $4 million to $5 million.
May 2018: Construction again faced a funding shortfall. Favre reached out to Bryant, texts show. One week later, the project received additional funding. โGood News. I have a little money for the โproject’ – $500,000!โ New texted Favre.
October-December 2018: Favre and Vanlandingham, the Prevacus founder, had been in talks with a Mississippi-based investor group, but the deal fell through after the group asked for 95% shares in the company, with no cash investment, solely for them to use their โpolitical cloutโ to secure FDA approval. So they reached out to Bryant. They offered him stock in the company. All three, in addition to others, met for dinner at Walker’s Drive-In to discuss opportunities for the company. Mississippi Today has reported on this meeting and the text exchanges surrounding it.
January-June 2019: Days after the Walker’s meeting, welfare officials met at Favre’s house and agreed on a $1.7 million grant for Prevacus. Vanlandingham texted the governor to express his excitement about working with his welfare officials. โ1.95M with the Governors help,โ Vanlandingham texted another Mississippi official and potential investor, according to the court filing. New began sending payments to Prevacus and Favre informed the governor of the cash flow. Vanlandingham, Favre and Bryant texted continually about Prevacus business developments. Read more in Mississippi Today’s series โThe Backchannel.โ
June 11, 2019: Vanlandingham met Gov. Tate Reeves, then a candidate for governor, in New Orleans. Discussing the meeting with other Prevacus board members, Vanlandingham said, โI’m meeting the governor and who he’s supporting to take his place in Mississippi. Hoping to keep that non-dilute running our way!!!โ Read more in Mississippi Today’s October article.
June 21, 2019: Bryant received a tip about Davis allegedly committing fraud, which he turned over to State Auditor Shad White, effectively forcing Davis out of office.
July 2, 2019: Bryant met with New, the court filing alleges. โMDHS owed reimbursements to MCEC and New told Bryant she could no longer fund Prevacus and volleyball without the reimbursements,โ the filing reads.
July 12, 2019: New texted Vanlandingham, โwe can send 400k today [but] I will need to let Brett know that we will need to pull this from what we were hoping to help him with [volleyball]โฆ.โ (MDHS’s civil complaint says the money was delivered on July 16, 2019.)
July 16, 2019: New texted Favre, โI may not be able to assist you in Aug. as we had planned.โ Favre responded, โAbout to see Governor Bryant.โ Favre, on his way to see the governor, texted Bryant, “I really need your help with Nancy and Jake.โ Bryant responded, โYou my manโฆ we are all inโฆ.โ After seeing Favre, Bryant texted New, โJust left Brett Favre. Can we help him with his project. We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.โ
July 22, 2019: New submitted a grant proposal to MDHS for $2 million in additional funds to finish construction on the volleyball stadium.
August 8, 2019: Bryant texted New, โMeeting with Brett in a few. Have the proposal and working it through DHS.โ Bryant and Favre met. Favre texted New that they had met about something else, and โhe only had 15 minutes but he did say at the end that he will get this done with you!!!โ
August-November 2019: Bryant, Favre and New worked together to try to usher the volleyball proposal through MDHS, the court filing alleges. โBryant, using Favre as intermediary, told New how to revise the grant proposal to โget it accepted,’โ the filing alleges. Favre texted New, โHe said to me just a second ago that he has seen it but hint hint that you need to reword it to get it accepted.โ Bryant secured a meeting for New and Favre with then-director Christopher Freeze to discuss the proposal. Later on, Bryant told Freeze he supported the project. Read more here.
December 2019: After a meeting between Bryant and New, the court filing alleges, the welfare agency awarded New’s nonprofit three new grants totaling $8.6 million. Bryant texts New, โDid y’all get any Of the new programs from DHS?โ New responded, โYes, we did โฆ Someone was definitely pulling for us behind the scenes. Thank you,โ to which Bryant responded with a smiley face emoji.
January 2020: Favre and Vanlandingham discussed offering Bryant a package โ either stock or cash โ โthat will get him determined to see [Prevacus] through.โ After Bryant left office on Jan. 15, 2020, Vanlandingham texted Bryant the next day, โNow that you’re unemployed I’d like to give you a company package for all your help โฆ we want you on our team!!!โ Bryant responded, โSounds good. Where would be the best place to meet.โ
Feb. 5, 2020: John Davis, Nancy New and four others โwere arrested for spending grant funds as directed, approved, facilitated, and/or furthered by MDHS, including, without limitation, the MDHS Executives, Bryant, and Davis,โ the filing reads.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1875
Nov. 2, 1875
The first Mississippi Plan, which included violence against Black Americans to keep them from voting, resulted in huge victories for white Democrats across the state.
A year earlier, the Republican Party had carried a majority of the votes, and many Black Mississippians had been elected to office. In the wake of those victories, white leagues arose to challenge Republican rule and began to use widespread violence and fraud to recapture control of the state.
Over several days in September 1875, about 50 Black Mississippians were killed along with white supporters, including a school teacher who worked with the Black community in Clinton.
The governor asked President Ulysses Grant to intervene, but he decided against intervening, and the violence and fraud continued. Other Southern states soon copied the Mississippi plan.
John R. Lynch, the last Black congressman for Mississippi until the 1986 election of Mike Espy, wrote: โIt was a well-known fact that in 1875 nearly every Democratic club in the State was converted into an armed military company.โ
A federal grand jury concluded: โFraud, intimidation, and violence perpetrated at the last election is without a parallel in the annals of history.โ
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
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In a time when trusted journalists and media sources are disappearing, we believe the stakes couldn’t be higher. Without on-the-ground, trustworthy reporting, civic engagement suffers, accountability falters and corruption often goes unaddressed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here at Mississippi Today we act as watchdogs, holding those in power accountable, and as storytellers, giving a platform to voices that have been ignored for too long. And we’re committed to keeping our stories free for everyone because information should be accessible when it’s needed most.
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Every dollar raised strengthens our ability to serve you with fact-based journalism on issues that impact your everyday lifeโwhether it’s covering local election issues or reporting on decisions affecting schools, safety and economic growth in Mississippi. Your support makes it possible for us to stay rooted in the community, offering nuanced perspectives that help Mississippians understand and engage with what’s happening around them.
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We’ll examine what’s at stake if local newsrooms lose press freedoms and will discuss how you, as members of the public, can help protect it. This event is open to Mississippi Today and Verite News members as a special thank-you for supporting local journalism and standing with us in this mission. Donate today to RSVP!
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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Hinds County loses fight over control of jail
The Hinds County sheriff and Board of Supervisors have lost an appeal to prevent control of its jail by a court-appointed receiver and an injunction that orders the county to address unconstitutional conditions in the facility.
Two members from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with decisions by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to appoint a receiver to oversee day-to-day jail operations and keep parts of a previous consent decree in place to fix constitutional violations, including a failure to protect detainees from harm.
However, the appeals court called the new injunction โoverly broadโ in one area and is asking Reeves to reevaluate the scope of the receivership.
The injunction retained provisions relating to sexual assault, but the appeals court found the provisions were tied to general risk of violence at the jail, rather than specific concerns about the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The court reversed those points of the injunction and remanded them to the district court so the provisions can be removed.
The court also found that the receiver should not have authority over budgeting and staff salaries for the Raymond Detention Center, which could be seen as โfederal intrusion into RDC’s budgetโ โ especially if the receivership has no end date.
Hinds County Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham was not immediately available for comment Friday. Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to comment because he has not yet read the entire court opinion.ย
In 2016, the Department of Justice sued Hinds County alleging a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conditions in four of its detention facilities. The county and DOJ entered a consent decree with stipulated changes to make for the jail system, which holds people facing trial.
โBut the decree did not resolve the dispute; to the contrary, a yearslong battle ensued in the district court as to whether and to what extent the County was complying with the consent decree,โ the appeals court wrote.
This prompted Reeves to hold the county in contempt of court twice in 2022.
The county argued it was doing its best to comply with the consent decree and spending millions to fix the jail. One of the solutions they offered was building a new jail, which is now under construction in Jackson.
The county had a chance to further prove itself during three weeks of hearings held in February 2022. Focuses included the death of seven detainees in 2021 from assaults and suicide and issues with staffing, contraband, old infrastructure and use of force.
Seeing partial compliance by the county, in April 2022 Reeves dismissed the consent decree and issued a new, shorter injunction focused on the jail and removed some provisions from the decree.
But Reeves didn’t see improvement from there. In July 2022, he ordered receivership and wrote that it was needed because of an ongoing risk of unconstitutional harm to jail detainees and staff.
The county pushed back against federal oversight and filed an appeal, arguing that there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that there are current and ongoing constitutional violations at the jail and that the county has acted with deliberate indifference.
Days before the appointed receiver was set to take control of the jail at the beginning of 2023, the 5th Circuit Court ordered a stay to halt that receiver’s work. The new injunction ordered by Reeves was also stayed, and a three-person jail monitoring team that had been in place for years also was ordered to stop work.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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