Former Southern Miss president subpoenaed in connection with Brett Favre investigation

Rodney Bennett, former University of Southern Mississippi president, was issued a subpoena Friday for communications with alum and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, who allegedly obtained funds from the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) to fund a new volleyball facility at the university in April 2017.

Per A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, the MDHS requested Bennett to turn over electronic communications related to Favre’s effort to build the facility at the school, in which his daughter was a member of the volleyball team. Favre allegedly knew use of the money from the MDHS was illegal. The 53-year-old Favre has continuously denied there was an agreement to fund the facility, or that use of the money, which originated from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), was improper.

The subpoena calls for communications Bennett had with not only Favre, but Favre’s wife, Deanna, his friend, Eric “Poncho” James, former longtime attorney Bud Holmes and former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, Perez reports.

The FBI initially questioned Favre after Bryant allegedly paid him $1.1 million in 2017 and 2018. Bryant paid Favre to give motivational speeches. The money came out of federal welfare funds meant for needy families, and according to the Mississippi state auditor, Favre never gave those speeches. The auditor demanded Favre pay the money back with interest, which he did. In total, Favre has been linked to about $8 million in misappropriated TANF funds.

Brett Favre maintains his innocence amid Mississippi welfare fraud allegations

Favre has maintained his innocence through the allegations. Favre claimed he’d done nothing wrong in his first comments on the investigation last year.

“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre said last year. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight. No one ever told me… I did not know that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the university or me. I tried to help my alma mater USM, a public Mississippi state university, raise funds for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the athletic facilities at my university.”