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State withheld ‘Backchannel’ texts from New defense teams for years, lawsuit alleges

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At the time State Auditor Shad White announced arrests in what he called a historic public embezzlement bust, which involved officials funneling welfare funds to a pharmaceutical startup, White had information that Gov. Phil Bryant was a “key team member” in that company, a new lawsuit alleges.

In the four years since, the complaint from a defendant in the case alleges that White and the Mississippi Department of Human Services has “actively concealed Bryant’s role” in the scandal.

Investigators gathered text messages revealing that during Bryant’s last year in office, the governor consulted Jake Vanlandingham, the CEO of the experimental concussion drug firm called Prevacus, and former NFL quarterback Brett Favre while hundreds of thousands of federal welfare funds flowed to their project. Texts show Bryant, who as governor oversaw the welfare agency, then agreed to accept interest in the company after he left his post.

The texts, first publicly surfaced by Mississippi Today’s investigative series “The Backchannel,” would prove to be crucial evidence in both the ongoing criminal and civil investigations.

But officials withheld the relevant texts from Nancy New, who was charged with fraud for funneling the funds to Prevacus, for over two years, a new court filing alleges. New, who claims she was acting on the governor’s direction, didn’t even allegedly have access to the documents when she pleaded guilty to the state charges in April of 2022.

“Most damning perhaps, OSA (Office of the State Auditor) failed to produce Vanlandingham’s phone and text messages to Nancy New and Zach New in criminal discovery,” reads a new third-party complaint against Bryant from New’s son Jess New. “Instead, OSA withheld evidence from the News until long after a plea had been entered in state court.”

In response, a spokesperson for the auditor’s office said it would have been the responsibility of the prosecutor, in this case the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, which secured the initial indictments, to release discovery materials.

“The Auditor’s Office turned over all evidence to the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office in a timely manner well before any guilty pleas were entered,” the auditor’s spokesperson Fletcher Freeman said in a statement. “This is a desperate attempt to try and discredit not only the State Auditor’s Office but also the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, which together stopped the largest public fraud scheme in Mississippi history.”

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens similarly said in an email that his office has a legal duty to serve all criminal defendants with discovery. “Despite Mr. New’s claims, the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office did not deviate from its discovery obligations in this case, and all material was timely disclosed pursuant to Mississippi law. Any claim to the contrary is simply false,” he wrote on Wednesday.

Jess New, a Jackson attorney and director of the Mississippi Oil and Gas Board, is a defendant in the extensive civil litigation MDHS has filed against 47 people or companies in an attempt to recoup the misspent funds. MDHS’s complaint alleges Jess New received welfare funds as a contractor for his mom’s nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center and attempted to profit from personal interest in the pharmaceutical project. While his mother and brother Zach New have pleaded guilty to state charges, Jess New has not been charged criminally.

On Wednesday, Jess New requested the judge allow him to file a third-party complaint against Bryant, who is not a defendant of the civil suit. While other defendants have asked that Bryant be added to the suit, this is the first time a defendant has attempted to actually bring a complaint against Bryant.

“MDHS has labeled the use of welfare grants to fund Prevacus as ‘an illegal transaction,’ yet MDHS continues to refuse to include Bryant as a Defendant despite overwhelming evidence of Bryant’s principal role in the ‘illegal’ transaction,” reads Jess News’ complaint, filed by his attorney Allen Smith.

An attorney for Bryant, who has not been charged in the state or federal welfare scandal-related cases, did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment on Wednesday.

A gag order in the case has prevented parties or their counsel from providing any information or clarification to the public. The complaint details Bryant’s entanglement with Prevacus starting with their introduction in late 2018 until the arrests in 2020, using much of the same written communication included in countless news reports and court filings.

What’s unique about Jess New’s filing this week is how it describes the events leading up to the arrests and the flow of information afterwards — raising questions about exactly what law enforcement knew when.

White began quietly investigating the welfare agency in mid-2019 when he learned about suspicious payments by then-MDHS Director John Davis to professional wrestling brothers Brett and Teddy DiBiase.

Investigators eventually unearthed checks from New’s nonprofit to a concussion drug firm called Prevacus and subpoenaed Vanlandingham for documents in late December of 2019.

“On January 23, 2020, Vanlandingham responded by forwarding emails and documents to OSA that expressly mention Bryant and indicate his involvement with Prevacus since 2018,” Jess New’s complaint reads.

The email was dated Dec. 29, 2018 — just three days after Bryant attended a dinner for Prevacus and four days before Davis and New met with Vanlandingham and Favre “at Bryant’s direction,” the lawsuit alleges, to commit the funding.

“Governor Bryant is very supportive of future relations including drug clinical trials and manufacturing in the State of Mississippi,” Vanlandingham’s email reads. “I would like nothing more than to work with you all and Brett to bring benefit to Southern Miss University as well.”

The lawsuit alleges Vanlandingham attached a document listing “key” Prevacus “team members,” which included Bryant. In another email he produced to the auditor’s investigator, Vanlandingham told his investors that a “great deal of this has been funded with the help of folks in Mississippi including the Governor.”

“Bryant is a necessary party to this lawsuit, but the State of Mississippi, through MDHS and OSA, have actively concealed Bryant’s role. Bryant’s joinder as a Defendant is essential to Jess New’s ability to adequately defend himself,” Jess New’s complaint reads. “MDHS seeks to improperly blame Jess New for grant funds that Bryant directed to Prevacus. Jess New is entitled to show the jury that Bryant directed these grant funds to Prevacus while Governor in order to benefit himself, personally, and his business associates.”

In mid-January of 2020, while Vanlandingham was dealing with the subpoena from the auditor’s office, he was simultaneously making arrangements with Bryant to give him “a company package for all your help.” Bryant had just left office; texts indicate he was waiting until that date to enter into business with Prevacus. Shortly after, Bryant joined a new consulting firm and by Feb. 4, 2020, he was confirming a meeting date and location with Vanlandingham.

The same day, a Hinds County grand jury handed down indictments against the welfare officials. Equipped with at least some documents indicating Prevacus’ connection to welfare funds involved Bryant, White made his arrests the next day.

In response to the arrests, then-U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst’s office issued a release revealing that White had not included the FBI in his investigation, despite the scheme involving federal funds. White, a Republican, had previously worked on Bryant’s gubernatorial campaign and was appointed to his position by Bryant to fill a vacancy. White explained that he went to the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, run by a Democrat, to avoid the appearance of political influence and for the ability to act quickly compared to the federal authorities.

But the arrests also resulted in another thing: Bryant ending talks with the company at the center of the scandal, texts show.

When news broke of the arrests, Bryant texted Vanlandingham to ask about the charges. The scientist told the former governor he’d been subpoenaed and “just gave them everything.”

“Not good…” Bryant wrote.

Five days later, White visited the local FBI offices to turn over his investigative file. Within hours, he also publicly named Bryant as the whistleblower of the case. To explain, White said that Bryant had relayed the initial intel about suspected fraud — the small tip regarding Davis and the wrestlers — in mid-2019.

The same morning, Bryant texted Vanlandingham, “I was unaware your company had ever received any TANIF funds. If some received anything of benefit personally then Legal issues certainly exists. I can have no further contact with your company. It is unfortunate to find ourselves at this point . I was hoping we could have somehow helped those who suffer from Brain Injuries. This has put that that hope on the sidelines.”

White’s office retrieved this and other texts from Vanlandingham’s phone after executing a search warrant on his Florida home on Feb. 19, 2020.

Defense attorneys for the News wouldn’t see these texts, according to the latest lawsuit, until Mississippi Today published them more than two years later.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

MS House member agrees to pre-trial program after indictment

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-28 13:57:00

Rep. Keith Jackson, a Democratic lawmaker from Kemper County, can remain in office despite a felony indictment by participating in a pre-trial intervention program, according to court documents. 

A grand jury last year indicted Jackson, a first-term House member, on charges of receiving stolen property – specifically, a 2006 Magnolia timber trailer worth about $15,000. The grand jury also indicted two other people, Fredwrick (sic) Young and William Tate, in connection with the criminal charges. 

Jackson did not respond to a request for comment, and his attorney, Christopher Collins, declined to comment. 

Cassie Colman, the district attorney in the 10th circuit district, told Mississippi Today that the state agreed to let Jackson participate in pretrial intervention because he had no prior criminal record. If Jackson completes the terms of the pre-trial agreement, then the criminal charges will be expunged from his record. 

Going to trial would likely be risky for the lawmaker because, if convicted of the offense, he could lose the right to hold elected office. 

Receiving stolen property is a disenfranchising crime in Mississippi, and if someone is convicted of a disenfranchising crime, they lose their right to vote. To run for office in Mississippi, someone must be a registered voter. 

But Coleman, who prosecuted the case against Jackson, said the legislator’s agreement to enter the program is neither a guilty plea nor a conviction. Instead, he will enroll in the intervention program for at least a year and pay around $3,350 in fees, according to court documents. 

If he fails to meet the terms of the agreement, the district attorney could remove him from the program and prosecute him for the original crime.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The article presents factual information about a Mississippi House member’s legal situation, focusing on the details of the pre-trial intervention program and the potential consequences if he fails to meet the terms. There is no overt political commentary or slant, and it primarily reports on the legal process and actions taken by both the accused lawmaker and the prosecuting district attorney. The tone is neutral, and it avoids sensationalizing the case or making political judgments. Given the absence of opinion or partisanship, the content is categorized as centrist.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1951, Ruby Hurley opened NAACP office in South

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-28 07:00:00

April 28, 1951

Ruby Hurley

Ruby Hurley opened the first permanent office of the NAACP in the South. 

Her introduction to civil rights activism began when she helped organize Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Four years later, she became national youth secretary for the NAACP. In 1951, she opened the organization’s office in Birmingham to grow memberships in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. 

When she arrived in Mississippi, there were only 800 NAACP members. After the governor made remarks she disagreed with, she wrote a letter to the editor that was published in a Mississippi newspaper. After that step in courage, membership grew to 4,000. 

“They were surprised and glad to find someone to challenge the governor,” she told the Chicago Defender. “No Negro had ever challenged the governor before.” 

She helped Medgar Evers investigate the 1955 murder of Emmett Till and other violence against Black Americans. Despite threats, she pushed on. 

“When you’re in the middle of these situations, there’s no room for fear,” she said. “If you have fear in your heart or mind, you can’t do a good job.” 

After an all-white jury acquitted Till’s killers, she appeared on the front cover of Jet magazine with the headline, “Most Militant Negro Woman in the South.” 

Months later, she helped Autherine Lucy become the first Black student at the University of Alabama. 

For her work, she received many threats, including a bombing attempt on her home. She opened an NAACP office in Atlanta, where she served as a mentor for civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, with whom she worked extensively and who went on to serve as an adviser to President Bill Clinton. 

After learning of Evers’ assassination in 1963, she became overwhelmed with sorrow. “I cried for three hours,” she said. “I shall always remember that pool of blood in which he lay and that spattered blood over the car where he tried to drag himself into the house.” 

She died two years after retiring from the NAACP in 1978, and the U.S. Post Office recognized her work in the Civil Rights Pioneers stamp series. In 2022, she was portrayed in the ABC miniseries, “Women of the Movement.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content is primarily focused on the historical and personal achievements of Ruby Hurley, a civil rights activist. It emphasizes her dedication and bravery in challenging oppressive systems and advocating for racial justice. The narrative does not appear to endorse or criticize any contemporary political positions but highlights Hurley’s work with the NAACP and her role in significant civil rights events. While it mentions her opposition to certain government figures and the threat she faced, the tone is largely factual and centered on her contributions to history, which supports a centrist position without leaning toward a particular ideological side.

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Mississippi Today

Podcast: Mississippi citizens often left in the dark on special-interest lobbying of politicians

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mississippitoday.org – @GeoffPender – 2025-04-28 06:30:00

With Mississippi’s lack of laws and transparency, citizens are often in the dark about special-interest spending to influence politicians. Mississippi Today’s politics team discusses its recent article shedding light on efforts by DraftKings and others lobbying for legalized online sports betting, including the speaker of the House and his staff being treated to the Super Bowl game this year.

The post Podcast: Mississippi citizens often left in the dark on special-interest lobbying of politicians appeared first on mississippitoday.org



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content reflects a Center-Left bias primarily due to its focus on transparency issues regarding special-interest spending and lobbying in Mississippi. The mention of negative implications associated with lobbying efforts suggests an advocacy for accountability and reform, which aligns with a progressive stance often seen in Center-Left discourse. Additionally, the subject matter, involving regulation of online sports betting, typically garners support from more liberal perspectives concerned about consumer protection and ethical governance.

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