Mississippi lawyer fired after filing subpoena over misspent welfare funds

A lawyer for the Mississippi Division of Human Providers was fired on Friday after he filed a subpoena wanting into the state’s misspent welfare funds, Mississippi Right now reported.

Driving the information: Former U.S. legal professional Brad Pigott subpoenaed the College of Southern Mississippi Athletic Basis this month for its communications with former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, his spouse, Deborah Bryant, and NFL star Brett Favre, in line with Mississippi Right now.

• The subpoena steered an curiosity in inspecting the Bryants and Favre’s function within the state’s welfare scandal.

The massive image: A state audit in 2020 discovered that Mississippi misspent tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of welfare funds, together with $1.1 million that went to Favre for talking engagements he didn’t attend, in line with the New York Instances.

• Whereas Favre ultimately paid again the state $1.1 million, the Division of Human Providers filed a lawsuit in Might accusing Favre and others of misspending and wrongly receiving welfare funds, Mississippi Right now reported.
• The College of Southern Mississippi Athletic Basis was not named within the lawsuit, regardless of receiving $5 million in welfare funds to construct a volleyball stadium.

State of play: Pigott’s subpoena this month requested for details about the volleyball stadium’s funding, along with its communications with the Bryants, Favre and others, per the New York Instances.

• The director of the Division of Human Providers claimed that Pigott was fired as a result of he didn’t seek the advice of with the company previous to submitting the subpoena.
• Nonetheless, Pigott despatched draft copies of the subpoena to the legal professional common’s workplace and the welfare company’s common counsel beforehand, in line with emails obtained by Mississippi Right now.