Article content material
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is suing a neighborhood information group, claiming it defamed him in public feedback on the misspending of $77 million of federal welfare funds meant to assist a few of the poorest individuals within the U.S.
The lawsuit comes simply over two months after Mississippi At the moment and one among its reporters, Anna Wolfe, received a Pulitzer Prize for her protection of the welfare misspending. Bryant’s legal professional filed a criticism Wednesday within the Circuit Courtroom of Madison County in opposition to the outlet’s CEO, Mary Margaret White, and Deep South At the moment, the outlet’s nonprofit proprietor.
Commercial 2
Article content material
Article content material
The lawsuit, which doesn’t seem to problem the veracity of Mississippi At the moment’s findings concerning the welfare scandal, claims White and different workers made “slanderous” or unfounded feedback about Bryant when discussing the outlet’s reporting in a number of public settings.
“Governor Bryant believes he has been libeled by Mississippi At the moment,” wrote Denton Gibbes, a Bryant spokesperson, in an e-mail. “He’s assured within the go well with he has introduced and, by his attorneys, will persuade 12 residents of Madison County of simply that.”
Henry Laird, an legal professional representing Mississippi At the moment, stated he was nonetheless reviewing the lawsuit Thursday afternoon.
On the heart of the lawsuit is a 2022 “affect report” printed by the information web site, a 2023 look at a nationwide media convention by White and a Pulitzer Prize award announcement. In every of these cases, the outlet misrepresented Bryant’s connection to the squandered welfare {dollars}, argued William Quinn II, Bryant’s legal professional. The feedback quantity to a concerted effort to wreck Bryant’s fame, Quinn wrote.
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
The lawsuit additionally cited what it asserted had been unfair feedback in a radio interview given by Wolfe and a podcast episode that includes Wolfe and Mississippi At the moment Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau. Taken collectively, Quinn argued the feedback quantity to a concerted effort to wreck Bryant’s fame.
Mississippi At the moment had already printed an apology from White in Might, every week after Bryant threatened a lawsuit, however he has since demanded new retractions. Bryant stated in a licensed letter Might 11 that White made a “false and defamatory” assertion about him when, at a journalism convention in February, she stated the outlet broke the story that Bryant “embezzled” welfare cash.
No felony costs have been filed in opposition to Bryant, and he has stated he instructed the auditor in 2019 about doable misspending of cash from the Non permanent Help for Needy Households antipoverty program.
Commercial 4
Article content material
Mississippi Auditor Shad White introduced in February 2020 that felony costs had been introduced in opposition to six individuals, together with John Davis, a former Mississippi Division of Human Providers government director who had been chosen by Bryant. The announcement got here weeks after Bryant, a Republican, completed his second and remaining time period as governor. Davis and others have pleaded responsible.
Wolfe’s “The Backchannel” sequence make clear the misspending of welfare funds meant for poor Mississippians that had been as an alternative diverted to the wealthy and highly effective. Prosecutors have stated the state’s human providers division gave cash to nonprofit organizations that spent it on initiatives comparable to a $5 million volleyball facility on the College of Southern Mississippi — a venture for which retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre agreed to boost cash. Favre’s daughter performed volleyball on the college.
Commercial 5
Article content material
Favre has additionally not been charged with against the law, however the Mississippi Division of Human Providers, with a brand new director, filed a civil lawsuit final 12 months in opposition to him, together with greater than three dozen different individuals and companies, to attempt to get well greater than $20 million of the misspent welfare cash.
Bryant’s lawsuit was filed on the identical day stump speeches for statewide officers started on the Neshoba County Truthful, one of many marquee political occasions of the 12 months. Mississippi’s incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who’s operating for reelection, has referred to as Mississippi At the moment a “Democratic SuperPAC” and has refused to reply its reporters’ questions at marketing campaign occasions.
___
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points. Observe him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
Feedback
Postmedia is dedicated to sustaining a energetic however civil discussion board for dialogue and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Feedback could take as much as an hour for moderation earlier than showing on the positioning. We ask you to maintain your feedback related and respectful. We’ve enabled e-mail notifications—you’ll now obtain an e-mail when you obtain a reply to your remark, there may be an replace to a remark thread you observe or if a person you observe feedback. Go to our Community Guidelines for extra data and particulars on find out how to regulate your email settings.
Be part of the Dialog