Attorney General Lynn Fitch struck out in her attempt to keep State Auditor Shad White from suing Brett Favre to recover TANF funds.
The State Auditor issued a demand for $828,000 upon the football legend in October 2021. The sum demanded included $600,000 in principal and $228,000 in interest. Mr. Favre paid $600,000. Mr. White's office sued Mr. Favre for the interest in November 2021. Favre also paid another $500,000 to state in March 2020.
Mr. Favre sued the State Auditor in Hinds County Circuit Court for defamation. Mr. White counterclaimed and included the $228,000 demand. General Fitch withdrew representation of Mr. White, claiming a conflict of interest. Mr. White had criticized the Attorney General in his book about the TANF scandal, Mississippi Swindle. General Fitch said the book created a conflict that could not be waived and got off the case.
The Attorney General claimed she alone had the right to pursue the clawback lawsuit and had instituted her own proceedings against Mr. Favre and the other TANF defendants. However, the Attorney General's lawsuit did not include the claim of $228,000 of interest and that is where the rub lies.
Mr. White pursued the claim in Hinds County Chancery Court, stating he had the authority to do so since the Attorney General declined to recover the interest.
General Fitch petitioned the Chancellor to issue a declaratory judgment against Mr. White's lawsuit:
30. Auditor White lacks statutory authority to prosecute suits pursuant to MISS. CODE ANN. § 7·7·211(g). At no time has the Attorney General declined to prosecute the Favre Demand under MISS. CODE ANN. § 7·7·21l(g), and MISS. CODE ANN. § 7·5·39 does not apply. (a) The Attorney General has the exclusive statutory authority to prosecute suits and manage litigation under MISS. CODE ANN.§§ 7-5-1 and 7-7-211(g);
The Chancellor had other ideas. Judge Thomas granted Mr. White's motion for summary judgment.
Mississippi Code Annotated Section 7-7-211(9) provides, in pertinent part: ""In the event, however, such person or persons or such surety shall refuse, neglect or otherwise fail to pay the amount demanded and the interest due thereon within the allotted thirty (30) days, the State Auditor shall have the authority and it shall be his duty to institute suit, and the Attorney General shall prosecute the same in anycou rt of the state to the end that there shall be recovered the total of such amounts from the person or persons and surety on official bond named therein "" Miss. Code Ann.§ 7-7-211 (West) (emphasis added). The Attorney General maintains that the pertinent statutes vest ""the Attorney General-not the State Auditor- the authority to decide whether and when to prosecute a claim seeking recovery of the interestdemanded""in an action under§7-7-211 [MEC #9; pg. 6). This Court cannot agree. The plain statutory language of subsection (g) provides that the "State Auditor shall have the authority and it shall be his duty to institute suit" and that "the Attorney General shall prosecute the same". Therefore, the plain language of the statute vests the State Auditor with the authority and responsibility to begin a legal suit in these specific instances and further mandates that the Attorney General prosecute the same. Furthermore, Mississippi case law has consistently supported the authority of the State Auditor to institute and pursue litigation on behalf of the State under §7-7-211.
37 comments:
Merry Christmas, Lynn.
My condolences to the Chancellor for stepping in to decide a petty pissing contest strictly motivated by politics. It's difficult to do such a thing without getting pissed on. Good work.
Every one of these lying, thieving politicians need to be run out of town. They are wasting our tax money squabbling amongst themselves in order to garner nothing more than political glory and its disgusting. If you want to feast on brett farves bones then fine, but dont waste a kings ransom of our tax dollars to determine who is going to do it.
bunch of children
How much did Shad pay for this post?
...so her opinion is...wrong?
They are all coming across as a “Carnival of Clowns!” And Phil Bryant and Brett Farve walk free…still.
Shad 1- Lynn 0 (it’s half time presented by your taxpayers dollars).
Let me get this straight. The AG sued the Auditor to prevent him from doing the job she refused to do?
That's a special kind of lazy.
Shad White for Attorney General and Auditor, like Malcolm McMillin Sheriff and Police Chief. Boy those were the good ole days!
Not only is she wrong, but she’s being derelict in her duty to prosecute as prescribed under the statutes quoted.
Comments like these are the reason I read the comments.
One difference between Shad and Lynn: Shad can read.
I call upon Cindy, Roger or Michael to find this man of the people, this bastion of legal acumen, this force of political nature a larger stage on which to ply his trade!!!! Shadrack for DC!!!!! Make it happen, swamp!!!
That she would even want to let Brett off just confirms that she is part of the effort to make America a despotic oligarchy!
She's on the " winning" team but the rest of us, especially Republicans who are middle to upper middle class will be very , very sorry. These guys want to be kings and see the rule of law as an inconvenience.
I feel sorriest for the widows and single women who have money and own businesses...you are now seen as " easy targets".
It won't happen right away as Mississippi is the "low hanging fruit".
Judge Thomas is an excellent Chancellor and we are lucky to have him. Did Lynn ever reimburse the state for the time when she used state troopers to try to intimidate her step-mother when Lynn's daddy left his estate to his wife and not to Lynn?
This is just making them all look like petulant, useless idiots.
Imagine us peasants hoping these morons would actually accomplish anything to benefit us when they are too busy with these pissing contests. We are doomed.
So, Shad is supposed to file suit, then Lynn is supposed to "prosecute" it? This makes absolutely no sense. Shouldn't the legal team charged with litigating the case be responsible for filing the complaint? Mississippi's laws are so poorly written.
It looks to me like Shad White, Lynn Fitch, and Brett Favre make up a codependency triangle, with Phil Bryant sometimes substituting in for Favre.
These people need therapy more than a promotion.
I wonder if the decision will be appealed
If Shad can sue to recover this money, why can't he get off his ass and sue the Leflore County Supervisors for ignoring his demand for repayment of approximately $130,000.00? I just happen to be one of those who also "can read", and Shad is always chasing the low hanging fruit.
I have never seen anyone work so hard at not doing her job. She is going to litigate this to the Mississippi Supreme Court, fighting tooth and nail for the right not to do any work at all.
So how soon will we see Favre mugshot? I can’t wait.
Meanwhile on Netflix, Kings of Tupelo was great!
Why is another suit needed at all. Isn’t Favre already being sued by the state to pay back the interest it’s claimed he owes?
Were interest rates not 3.5% - maybe 5% during this time? He only had the money a couple of years max, so how is that amount the right amount for interest?
So sad that Barney Fife and Thelma Lou can't seem to get along!
"The State Auditor issued a demand for $828,000 upon the football legend in October 2021. The sum demanded included $600,000 in principal and $228,000 in interest. Mr. Favre paid $600,000. Mr. White's office sued Mr. Favre for the interest in November 2021. Favre also paid another $500,000 to state in March 2020. "
If Favre paid $1.1M against a $828,000 fine, why are they suing for any money? It seems he has over paid
All this fight over interest. Probably at a rate 8-12 points higher than the commercial lending rate.
For anyone saying Favre has "paid back" the money, consider this:
If you really believe that, then you believe he took an interest-free loan from the poorest people in the poorest state. That's despicable.
Why is she trying to protect Bret Farr? Is it because he’s rich?? Would she do the same for someone else?
I agree
Fitch for governor!
Anyone hear a fiddle playing?
5:04: Favre was paid to do promotional activity - some of which he did. I personally think if that's all he did, his hourly rate is way too high, but Tom Brady was paid $25M to stand on stage and make 1 crypto commercial, so who I am to argue what rate a public figure can charge for his endorsement and promotion. That fact that Nancy New and MDHS chose to spend the money in that way is the crime - not that Favre signed up to do the work.
Now that the state is firmly in Republican control, it's inevitable that the GOP will fight among themselves. It's always the ornery vs the calm and the greedy self- directed vs the other-directed who are fair-minded.
5.04 is correct in his argument. One of these days all will come out and you will see Shad's true motives. His selection of a corrupt local DA to begin this process as opposed to taking to the Feds speaks volumes.
Having observed her, in this role, for 6 years, it's beyond apparent that the only time she comes out of the dugout is to protest being called to the plate to bat. Otherwise, she's sitting down there somewhere on the bench, grinning and crackin' peanuts.
This could be progress, though. In her other four government lives, she either never came out of the dugout or never found it.
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