Jackson Jambalaya

Deputy Pheel was the kind of guy who answered the phone and was told to make this and that happen by the MSGOP.

He wasn’t a big picture guy. He was a bag boy. He is a lot like President Bribe’Em in that respect. The “Mississippi Way” was best portrayed by the Coen brothers in the iconic Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and the only things that have changed is that they aren’t only “mass communicaten” over AM radio anymore.

Still amazed how no one seems to care that Shad White conveniently left these details about Gov. Bryant in the shadows for over 2 years. Lots of stories to tell here, but that’s a big one.

Did Deputy Pheel's Boy Wonder paint himself into a corner?

@1:23 read the other threads. Shad is taking a beating. And, rightfully so.

Hey Shad, if you’re reading this, things like THIS are really going to hurt you when you run for Lt Gov or Governor.

Shad took a page out the Ray Mabus book, and thereby setting up a pathway to the Governors mansion. The FBI is so political who knows if anything will ever be done by the feds about any of this. The FBI has always turned a blind eye when Bennie Thompson was involved, so don't be shocked if Phil gets a free pass too.

Plenty of stealing in "the land of not enough to go around". Its the Mississippi business model. Always last, always will be. The filthy and illiterate make the illegitimates that attract the welfare dollars which are then stolen by the storefront financiers, payday lenders and slumlords who can purchase a legislator for a song. Only perpetual poverty and misery are produced.

Hey Shad, if you’re reading this, things like THIS are really going to hurt you when you run for Lt Gov or Governor.

Against an underfunded total unknown Donkeycrat? Get real. ROFLMAO

Shad and John Davis along with anyone else in this mess best believe Governor Deputy Dawg will throw all of your asses under bus, under tires of bus and then run over you himself to look squeaky clean. The sad part is Deputy Dawg is going to come out ok while others he ruins will suffer for life. He is not a good person, never has been.

Phil Bryant will not get a pass from this DOJ if he did anything wrong. He is and was a big time Trump supporter. Everyone knows from recent history how anyone link to Trump is treated by the FIB and DOJ.

I thought Phil was okay. I never thought he was smart, but I did not realize he was crooked. I am at the point where I don’t care what happens to him from here on.

I was just visiting a friend & we talked about this article & others in the series, both of us being MSU grads. An under-achieving relative of his was there also. She scrolled through the latest article & offered this insight: "I didn't realize there was that much you could say about anything." And that, my friends, is why Bryant, White, USM, MSU & Favre will skate.

It seems to me that part of the question lies in what control Phil Billy had regarding Davis and in effect, the funds. Since Davis worked at the will and pleasure of the Gov (Phil Billy), it stands to reason that he feared for his job and livelihood, if he did not do as Phil Billy expressly told him to do. Some call it a more legal term, coercion. Using unethical means of persuading Davis to improperly allocate the funding, is coercion. Any jury would convict Phil Billy on that basis. Shad, he is as weak as water and proving it every day he sits idle. Has a request been put in for any emails and texts between Phil Billy and Shad? Such a request might get Shad out of the closet!!!!

Please. Phil Bryant never had much of a legacy to tarnish in the first place. His scalp won't abet Democrats in Mississippi to return to power. There isn't some silent electorally powerful majority in Mississippi focused on and pissed off about the spending of TANF funds.

" Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

Sometimes I wonder if people like 1:19 are cognizant of the irony in mentioning that Coen Brothers movie in a post about Anna Wolfe and Phil Bryant.

Phil should be sweating bullets. New York's current Lt. Gov. got arrested today for bribery and fraud. So indicting a former governor for conspiracy to commit fraud should not be any problem. Phil can play the aw-shucks, good-ole-boy, didn't realize what I was saying card but the texts are gonna be a real problem. Especially the offer of ownership in a company that was fraudulently receiving federal funds at his urging.

Don't forget that we don't know what Phil told John Davis and Nancy New through emails and phone calls. Yes, he would be dumb enough to use email; he used texts didn't he? John and Nancy may have some interesting conversations to related to the feds in exchange for leniency.

100% of politicians only give a shit about getting re-elected and will give away whatever is necessary to make re-election a reality.

One of the things that is most remarkable about Wolfe's great writing is the uncovering of the influence of Deborah Bryant. It is obvious she and Phil salivated at the chance to meet and greet the powerful. But the pernicious influence that Deb played is astonishing. There she was, gushing at John Davis, the governor's puppy-dog. There she was, trying to sneak favors for her friends. There she was, cloaked in Jesus and sending state money to pay for her religious books.

No one elected Deborah Bryant (thank God!) and there she is weaving her emails into the state's business.

Anything named for Deborah Bryant ought to be changed. Anything named for Phil ought to be changed. Phil deserves to be investigated by the DOJ. Deborah deserves all the shame that becomes her.

Ask yourself if you think Deppity Pheel is as smart as William Walker, Scott Walker, Chris Epps, Carl Reddix etc.

Just more Organized Crime doing it's thang.

Deborah deserves all the shame that becomes her.

Maybe so but she shouldn't feel any shame whatsoever about comments contributed by an anonymous internet harpy.

Always figured you shouldn't name a building after anyone while they're still living and have opportunities to be "found out" for who they really are . . . .
Lou Ann Woodward and her band of woke bureaucrats at UMMC will soon be chiseling all those letters of the former Gov's name off the facade of the shiny new Phil Bryant UMMC building.

@3:58pm Of all things to rant and rave about, you pick Deborah Bryant? Really? She doesn’t even like being in the spotlight or having to be out in front of crowds, but she married a man who does. She’s not some evil master mind. She’s actually a very kind and caring woman, who if anything, you could consider her naivete and empathy her “downfalls.” There’s something to be said for the power of a political spouse. They do influence their partners a great deal as with anything else in their personal lives, and they do get criticized for what their spouses do/don’t do. That’s just a part of it, but it is unfair for the spouses. Doesn’t matter if the person is First Lady of MS or the spouse of a small town clerk. She’s not telling Phil how to do things, and she can’t be held responsible for his decisions. It’s not like Phil is Deborah’s puppet. Anyone who thinks that does not actually know Phil or Deborah. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending bad or unethical or possibly illegal decisions on the part of the Gov or his staff. Its absurd to suggest that Deborah is the one wearing the cowboy boots in this relationship.

Phil made his daughter Madison BOS lawyer where she was shown to be an abject idiot….and that got Butler Snow off the hook for trying to explain why she was ever in that building.

Now we know his next adventure - lobbying - is likely also immersed in fraudulent conduct.

Wonder how a deputy sheriff goes to governor and then rubs elbows with the likes of Nigel Farage and other extremists?

Hopefully Anna will write in detail about it soon

Nancy and son are toast, she signed a contract to personally benefit from stock options with the medical company. Phil will get a pass. The wrestlers squealed early and will likely fade away. Favre will be dealt a blow of bad public opinion but not much else. Davis will be a scapegoat.

2:49, I had to read that quote several times to begin to get my mind around the depth and layers of ignorance and sloth that it revealed. I don't think you have to worry about getting called out for repeating it here.

Before I accept excoriation of Bryant, show me equal suspicion and investigation of Benny Thompson.

Deborah Bryant & Nancy New are friends from way back! Not surprising how good intentions got caught up in poor judgement.

@5:26 The only two statements in your comment that are even remotely close to being accurate are that Phil will get a pass and Favre will only deal with public scorn. That’s it.

5:41, good intentions....that includes getting googly eyes over potentially making millions off of stock options right? Good intentions indeed. Don't we all have good intentions? We just don't have the power to direct federal funds to support our good intentions.

And that juvenile palliative care facility that we the taxpayers spent 3x on that will bear Deborah's name was good intentions also. Everybody got paid on that one, but still nothing for the kids.

Bennie Thompson can make more $ in a couple of speaking engagements than Phil Bryant can make as a lobbyist in a year.

Federal prisons are absolutely full of misguided people who will tell you:

.I used poor judgment.
.I didn't realize what that meant when I did it.
.What was I thinking?
.I believed them and fell for it.
.I've been a Christian all my life.
.I never connected the dots and I feel so foolish.
.Everything I did was for someone else.
.I was railroaded.
.I had the best of intentions and things just went sideways.
.I accept full responsibility but didn't do anything illegal.

I'm just glad the MSGOP cleaned up its act and none of this goes on anymore.

5:39pm Huh? Before? If you know something, say something. This ain't communist Russia. We can do two things at once. Same time. Not before. Meanwhile someone knew something AND said something about the previous Governor's misallocation of federal dollars. See how this works now?

I find it odd there are persons using this thread to attack Benny et al. This is a post about the undue influence ex-governor Phil exercised on his subordinates.

I’m not a fan of Phil but I’ll willing to have an honest dialogue about his misgivings.

To attempt to change the narrative is dishonest and worse is an attempt to suggest that was a good governor.

If he’s guilty, he should serve time as is Chris Epps, Carl Reddix, Bernie Ebbers, Dickie Scrubbs, and the rest of those parties who have violated public trust. If his wife is involved she should be included as well.

I’m not a democrat and it’s time we stand for something. I hope this is a modern day eye opener and as long as the State Auditor is discovering public corruption, I support his efforts. It’s time to stop giving politicians a pass in Mississippi when the world is watching.

I hope UMC will swiftly remove his name from the Guyton Research facility bearing his name.

The only thing worthy of sporting Phil's name is the third dump his buddy planned for Madison that sorta got stalled. Get the sign posts now to avoid back-order.

@4:49 Do me a favor. Go back and read Anna Wolfe's piece very carefully. Be sure to click the links to see the emails from Deb woven into the story. Read her emails to John Davis. Read her other emails in the article. Then tell me she is a wallflower and didn't have anything to do with the corruption of Phil's tenure. Did you think it appropriate that the State paid for the books that Deb chose from her favorite Christian author? Deb might not want the limelight (ha, ha) but she was an active party to this mess.

Everyone from Phil Bryant down should be held responsible for their misdeeds. This includes all those within DHS who signed off on misspending or turned a blind eye.

Shad White should be help responsible for hiding Phil Bryant’s involvement. His subordinates should as well. Shad doesn’t investigate these cases. His team of auditors and investigators do. They either turned a blind eye to Phil’s involvement or didn’t conduct a thorough enough investigation to discover his emails and texts. They obviously weren’t hard to obtain.

Wake me up when Tater's name comes up in this.

We MUST forget about party lines folks ! ALL of them are stealing from us. Until we set aside the finger pointing this will only continue. If you know an elected...accuse them of theft ! No need for proof. If they know you are watching they will think twice. Ask for their finances and stock.

The sad thing is that most Mississippians will instantly lose their focus on this when someone says "But what about all that stealing Bennie Thompson and the Democrats are doing?"
Shad is probably furiously searching for some small town employees who committed some small offenses so he can get some press releases out ASAP.

@ 7:12 I agree. Shad has owned this story from the get go, all the while concealing key facts and evidence. OP-ed, after op-ed, after op-ed, tweet, tweet, tweet. And Phil is only mentioned as the Whistleblower.

I dealt with his bulldog Stephanie Palmertree a few years back. She wouldn't know real business world accounting if it hit her in the face. Yet, she sits atop her ivory tower casting stones and "professional" judgement. She's been wrong before, yet you never hear that.

Don't forget McCluskey and Guynes who left Shad for greener pastures as well. I guarantee they knew all about Phil's involvement.

I'm a conservative and I hope they all do time.

I don't know why people want to make this a party line debate anymore than why some people seem hell-bent on irrationally defending criminals that share a similar skin tone.

Wrong is wrong.

The sooner more people admit that and stop blindly defending the self-serving king that you think is on your side...the better we all would be.

Agree with what was just said at 11:49am

Wrong is wrong and Phil should pay the price for his involvement, if proven (doesn't look good for him). He was a deputy sheriff, a state auditor (sent people to jail for similar conduct and misgivings) and CEO of the state (Gov). He knows full well that he could not have even a resemblance of impropriety for any entity he was involved with as Gov.

I would add that Shad's conduct (or lack thereof) has bought him a major opponent, likely both republican and democrat. Especially if there are any emails or texts between he and Phil (Phil has 2 phones) or their administrative staff members. This is going to get much more ugly, before it gets better. Shad may have self-victimized himself into to having to defend the very conduct he sends out press releases on, convicting people before they even get a court date!

Marshall Ramsey nailed it this week.https://mississippitoday.org/author/mramsey/

10:45am, I take exception with you calling out an employee who is not an elected official. Stephanie is a professional and she has been published in the Journal of Accountancy. Stick to the subject and quit airing dirty laundry. Sounds like she kicked your ass.

If any of Shad's underlings knew Phil was involved, they should be held to account too. I would assume most are CPAs and may even have taken an Oath of Office perhaps. At a minimum, they have a professional and ethical duty. If they missed the texts or emails, they're incompetent. If they turned a blind eye, they're complicit.

Not a fan of Marshal Ramsey, but his recent cartoon of Shad is hilarious and right on the mark!

Phil and Benny both need to go down! Both parties are responsible for creating a swamp in MS!

We can't be surprised with this after Newt Gingrich and President Bill Clinton reduced welfare to a TANF slush fund. When you give hillbilly states the power to spend federal money without oversight they'll do the hillbilly thing and steal it for themselves and their rich friends. I remember when Nancy New was the darling of right-wing talk radio. Heck, 'ol Taterbutt filmed himself a campaign ad at Nancy New's school in Jackson. As long as they can rationalize that they're keeping impoverished people off gub'ment money they'll do whatever they want.

This whole story is absolutely astonishing. The egregious spending of these funds was criminal. For the Governor to use these funds for his own personal causes instead of helping those in need should not be forgotten. I hope Phil's lobbying business is a failure. He needs to hang his head in shame, but the narcism in him won't understand that. At least we don't have to worry about him ever holding a public office again. He can hang those selfies with Jennifer Garner and the other celebrities on his home office.