WASHINGTON — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre made a surprising revelation during a congressional hearing on Tuesday : He has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Favre was appearing before the U.S.
House Ways and Means Committee as part of its examination of how states are falling short on using welfare to help families in need. "Sadly, I also lost an investment in a company that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others, and I’m sure you’ll understand why it’s too late for me because I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s," Favre said during his opening statement. "This is also a cause dear to my heart.
Recently, the doctor running the company pleaded guilty to taking TANF money for his own use." Favre's testimony is part of an inquiry by Congress into a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal, where the state's department of human services allowed well-connected people to waste tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to Mississippi Auditor Shad White and state and federal prosecutors. Favre is not facing any criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen defendants in a civil lawsuit the state filed in 2022.
The suit demands repayment of money that was misspent through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, often shortened to TANF. Mississippi Auditor Shad White said in 2020 that Favre had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit or.
