The fight between State Auditor Shad White and Attorney General Lynn Fitch is on today at the Mississippi Supreme Court. Watch live at 1:30.
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.
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);
Unfortunately for General Fitch, Chancellor Dewayne Thomas did not see things her way and ruled for the State Auditor. The Chimneyville Chancellor ruled:
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.
Showing no quit, the Attorney General pressed on as she appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Although briefs were submitted, General Fitch asked for oral arguments.
The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the Attorney General's request for today at 1:30.
53 comments:
You can't get material for campaign TikToks from a brief!
Fitch asked for oral arguments even though she is not competent enough to provide them.
I'm with Shad on this one.
It'd be crazy for me to sue someone to stop them from doing the job I won't or don't want to do.
If Lynn's truly lazy, she wouldn't fight this battle. I suspect it'll be difficult to shake the impression she's hiding or protecting someone/something.
It's gonna be on like a pot of neckbones!
Wiggins in the house!
Why aren't they there in person?
Lynn's boy is lready falling behind on 103.
30 days?
Ooops!
Claim splitting?
Ooops!
Not going so well for Fitch's crew...
I'm curious how they derive a number to bill for the interest. A $228K interest bill on a $600K principal seems really high, that's 38% of the principal amount. Not saying it's wrong, but it does fail the eye test.
They should just meet somewhere and fuck and get it over with.
Shoutout to any former deputy sheriffs what happen to be watching!
It's starting to look like a BAD decision she made!
When the justice asks:
"what I don't understand is..."
Not going well at all.
🔥 🔥 🤡 🤡 🔥 🔥
Shad White should be in jail.
The real question is why Fitch doesn’t want to hold Favre accountable for the interest, which is what the law says is due.
Political pissing contests paid for by the taxpayers.
Ewwwww!
I’m just sad that Chief Justice Randolph was sad that he couldn’t tell Shadrack and Lynn hello because they weren’t present at the argument :(
Smart move to avoid stepping on the flaming bag of dog poo in public!
@ 1:50 pm.. The original principal amount paid Favre for the speeches he never gave was 1.1 million. He paid back 500K in 2020 and 600k in 2021. Interest began running when he received the 1.1 million years prior, and the repayments don't stop the accrual of interest on interest, so to speak.
Some state employees wasting time and taxpayer dollars live texting from this useless hearing.
Looks like to me that Shad's group wants to do what's right, recover the money plus interest and Fitch wants to cover Bryant and Farve's ass'es.
It looks like the Mississippi Supreme Court is going to punt on the merits of this one and kick it out on jurisdictional grounds. Randolph was pretty adamant that the declaratory judgment action upon which this appeal is based was brought in the wrong court. He clearly thought it should have been brought in Hinds County Circuit Court and not Hinds County Chancery Court.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has a Titan in Josiah Coleman. I hope he writes whatever the majority is.
@3:00 Okay that makes sense but what rate does the state use to charge interest?
to 1:36... because fitch would not know where to go stand in the courtroom, and couldn't deliver a legal argument in a justice court much less the MSC.
remember, she shoots clipped wing , pen raised , and tame bob white quail on a preserve, thinking that they are wild birds.
Lynn Fitch is pander for those Hattiesburg campaign funds and votes, the same ones that got Tate Reeves elected, when even his home county of Rankin didn't support him (because they know him).
Shad wants attention and Lynn wants more new furniture.
Their pissing contest rests on this case. Dilwad and the Hat are
sitting back, watching & laughing
The Auditor has already received his attention but that hand carved executive desk and soft Spanish leather chair seems to be gone from the AG's wish list.
"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. "
If this is true why has Shad not pursued litigation against the Leflore County Supervisors who continue to give him the middle finger?
The delta is doomed
The Battle of the Mental Midgets.
Shad better step up his makeup game.
Brett was nice enough to pay back money that was given to him by representatives of the State of Mississippi headed by the then Governor. Now how do you think Brett et al knew about the giveaway’s?They didn’t contact you or me, or someone that was surely qualified. Leave Brett et al alone and go after the person that really calls the shots!
When some give you money then you pay it all back, then you want interest, Bullshit!
Shad let it go, Lynn knows how to play and protect.
Shad is following current MS law. Fitch is trying to protect a very wealthy person.
That $228,000 sure would be nice “for Mississippi”. Seems I remember someone ran on that slogan. Maybe the new signs will read “for Hattiesburg elites”…SMTTT
Shad sold out to protect Phil Bryant, but Fitch has been a Republican tool since she stepped to the stage. All furniture, no house.
And the citizens of Mississippi pay for this crazy, inbred fighting. Mississippi has tons of money to play with - we just don’t use it productively. How stupid can u get? We need to rid this state of these token women. They are as bad for this state as the backward male leaders. No way to win in this state.
AI says that Brett Favre career earnings was $141,800,000 million why in the stupidity would you pay him for speaking engagements. Im sure Brett for his love of Mississippi would do this for free if he cared about y’all ignorant asses. You know all this is sickening for people in power to kiss an ass I don’t mean MDHS Director John Davis he was just a pawn for the Higher Powers. John the Peter Principle got you buddy you should have stayed as the MDHS County Director of Lincoln County. See the connection Lincoln County!!!
We seem to worship celebrities to the point of allowing them to con us out of our tax dollars. Brett screwed up and he should "pay the piper" or marry some rich old lady for her money while he still looks good enough and can perform.
Why would one the Governor’s Director at the time pay a multi millionaire for speaking engagements. As my Big Mama would say, there’s a cat on the line.
It just ain’t adding up, it’s mind boggling, unethical and possibly CRIMINAL. All the players have ties, SMTTP!
Interest accrues at 1% a month on the principal.
The interest would have started accruing the year he took the money then stopped the year he paid the principal off. So we don’t know how many months of interest accrued during that time. At least this is the way the IRS calculates it so it is probable similar at the OSA.
Close your eyes, tap your heels together three times and think to yourself Phil's the whistleblower, USM's volleyball stadium is for the poors and TANF money that went to Prevacus for a blockbuster concussion drug was lost being 'invested' in a Ghanaian gold bar scam.
Nothing to see at all!
I almost forgot!
“Bryant never indicated he would accept Prevacus stock. He did not run out of time to do so and did not suddenly change his mind,”
"Their pissing contest rests on this case. Dilwad and the Hat are
sitting back, watching & laughing"
And ironically, the winner of the contest is not even a state employee.
Yes...a great question was raised and ignored: How did Favre even know about all this money being given away?
Lynn knows if she were to prosecute Favre, that would please Hinds County voters. She also knows Hinds County voters will be told how to vote and who to vote for.
Lynn also knows that to prosecute Favre will rile Forest and several adjoining counties' voters. She also knows they vote Republican.
The gurl be all up in the middle of a conundrum, as it wuz.
Lynn's OFFICE asked for oral arguments. She likely asked an attorney in the office, "Why?" Nobody said she would attend.
“Bryant never indicated he would accept Prevacus stock. He did not run out of time to do so and did not suddenly change his mind,”
I want to say I remember there's a record of him saying, "Wait until I'm out of office to do that"....a date which was just several days later.
He's already married. He didn't con anybody. An important person alerted him to the shit-pot-full of money that he could legally tap into to build a facility at the alma mater of both Favre and that important person (and wife).
Also in the dot connecting, note that the wife of the important person and the storekeeper of the shit-pot-full of money were close personal friends.
With important people advising Favre that all was well, above board and legal, what's a boy to do?
“Bryant never indicated he would accept Prevacus stock. He did not run out of time to do so and did not suddenly change his mind,”
I intended to supply a link- here it is:
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/ex-gov-phil-bryant-sues-over-sports-illustrated-story-on-welfare-scandal-alleging-defamation/
Also at that link the text screenshots of some text messages between the Prevacus CEO and Bryant about possible stock ownership and Phil stating it needed to be discussed after he left office.
FTX Crypto paid Tom Brady & Giselle $25M to stand on stage and wave while the CEO said nice things about them, and people are wondering why Brett could get $1M? I think it's ridiculous, but so are current NIL contracts, etc., so the world is just weird about celebrities and their value.
AG’s office signed off on the deal. Let’s not forget about that.
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