Welfare agency set to depose Brett Favre, but both want to conceal transcripts

by Anna Wolfe

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is set to give sworn testimony in the ongoing welfare fraud civil suit at the end of this month.

But both Favre and the Mississippi Department of Human Services, which is suing the famous athlete and 46 others, have asked the judge to issue a protective order allowing parties to block evidence in the case, such as deposition transcripts, from being shared with the public.

If Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Faye Peterson signs the order — to which 16 other defendants objected — Favre’s deposition transcript would be considered confidential for at least 30 days after it is completed, after statewide elections in November. After that, Favre would be able to designate deposition exhibits or portions of transcripts confidential, preventing any other parties from sharing the materials with anyone outside of their counsel, the court or potential witnesses.

MDHS has accused Favre of pushing welfare officials to fund the construction of a volleyball stadium at University of Southern Mississippi and make a seven figure investment in a pharmaceutical company he was promoting — both of which MDHS says were shams that personally benefitted Favre and others. Favre denies he had anything to do with an illegal scheme.

Since MDHS first filed the case in May of 2022, Peterson has issued several procedural orders, most significantly denying Favre’s motion to dismiss the complaint against him and denying several motions to stay the case. She also denied a motion for protective order from the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation.

“The primary purposes of the Agreed Protective Order are to prevent confidential discovery materials from being made public and used outside of this litigation, and to give parties an opportunity to make an application that confidential materials be filed under seal,” reads the Sept. 22 motion for protective order by MDHS, Favre and another defendant in the case, virtual reality company Lobaki, Inc.

Both MDHS and Favre also plan to depose former University of Southern Mississippi President Rodney Bennett on Oct. 31 in Nebraska, where Bennett recently relocated to serve as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after resigning from USM in 2022.

MDHS has used a text message that Bennett sent former Gov. Phil Bryant in 2020 as the basis for its claim that Favre personally committed to provide funds to build the volleyball stadium, which bolsters the argument that Favre stood to personally benefit from the diversion of MDHS funds to the project.

“I will see, for the ‘umpteenth time’ if we can get him (Favre) to stand down,” Bennett wrote to Bryant in late January of 2020. “The bottom line is he personally guaranteed the project, and on his word and handshake we proceeded. It’s time for him to pay up – it really is just that simple.” 

Neither Bennett nor Bryant are defendants in the civil case.

Favre’s legal team denies that any of the welfare funds channeled to USM helped satisfy Favre’s pledge, especially considering that the funds were transferred in 2017, while Favre signed his guarantee in 2018.

Favre said that with respect to the proposal to use MDHS block grants to fund the volleyball stadium, “The Governor was aware of the source of the funding and supported it.”

At the time Bennett sent Bryant the text about Favre, Bryant had just left office and was discussing entering a business deal with Prevacus and PreSolMD, the Favre-backed pharmaceutical startups that also received more than $2 million in stolen welfare funds.  Bryant denied involvement in either deal.

MDHS sent an email to each defendant in the civil suit to gauge their support for a protective order. The following 16 defendants objected:

• Nancy New, her private school company New Learning Resources Inc. and her nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center.

• The nonprofit’s accounting firm Williams, Weiss, Hester & Co.

• Nancy New’s sons Zach and Jess New, Jess New’s company Magnolia Strategies and the LLC they all started together, N3 Holdings.

• Former state welfare director John Davis and his nephew Austin Smith.

• Former welfare agency attorney William Garrig Shields.

• Former welfare subcontractor NCC Ventures and its owner Nicholas Cronin Coughlin.

• Former welfare subcontractor Chase Computer Services.

• Retired football player Marcus Dupree and his organization Marcus Dupree Foundation.

These defendants said they were “hesitant to agree that materials, which [they] have never seen, can be made confidential simply with the markings of an attorney,” reads the Sept. 22 motion. The objecting defendants also argued that “‘records of public officials and former public officials’ may be marked as ‘confidential’; and that ‘some party will designate as ‘confidential’ matters which should not be confidential, and we will then have to go through an unknown length of time to obtain a court hearing in order to have the matters made public.’” The remaining 29 defendants did not respond either way.

“As noted, discovery materials are not a matter of public record and to the extent that any designated discovery materials are to be filed with the Court, if any party or non-party requests they be sealed, the Court must ultimately decide if sealing is warranted,” the motion reads.

MDHS’s original counsel in the civil suit first scheduled depositions of 13 defendants in July of 2022, and they were set to take place between August and November of last year.

But days after filing the notice, Gov. Tate Reeves and the welfare department chose to fire the attorney, former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott, which put a halt to securing the sworn statements.

Favre’s Oct. 26 deposition, set at the Hotel Indigo in Hattiesburg near Favre’s home, will be the first in the case unless one is scheduled before then.

Originally published on October 4th, 2023, in Mississippi Today.

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As of noon, 25,000 UAW members will be striking against the Detroit Three automakers

By Anna Liz Nichols, Michigan Advance

Two more plants, employing 7,000 workers, are joining the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike at noon Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain announced Friday morning on Facebook Live. This brings the total number of workers who will have walked off the job to 25,000.

The strike against Detroit Three auto manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis started two weeks ago after contract negotiations failed.

The UAW strike begins and UAW President Shawn Fain talks to picketing workers at Ford-owned Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan the night of September 14, 2023. (photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Fain said as he was gearing up for the planned livestream, Stellantis showed progress in negotiating with the union for a better contract, so the union did not target additional plants at the company.

Fain did call on Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant, as well as GM’s Lansing Delta Township facility to stand up and go out on strike at noon Friday. Fain offered those who have already been called to strike a message of encouragement.

“Keep showing the company’s that you’re ready to stand up when you’re called. When we win this fight, when we right the wrongs of the past 15 years and longer. And when we set a new course for future generations, it won’t be because of any president, not the UAW president, not the president of the United States. It will be because ordinary people did extraordinary things,” Fain said.

At Fain’s invitation, President Joe Biden on Tuesday visited a UAW picket line in Belleville, Mich., telling workers, “Wall Street didn’t build the country; the middle class built the country. … And unions built the middle class.” 

Although Biden said he marched in UAW picket lines when he was a U.S. senator, he’s noted taking pride in doing it as president. It is believed that this is the first time in modern history that a sitting president has visited an active strike site.

Fain did not note former President Donald Trump’s Wednesday speech at a non-union Macomb County plant. The union president declined to meet with Trump, saying he was part of the problem of the “billionaire class.”

“They [the UAW] have to endorse Trump [in 2024], because if they don’t, all they’re doing is committing suicide,” Trump said at the event at Drake Enterprises in Clinton Township.

The UAW has not endorsed in the 2024 election. Michigan is again considered a pivotal swing state.

Even with Biden’s support for the striking workers, Fain noted UAW members are still facing obstacles, noting a hit-and-run incident Tuesday afternoon on the picket line at General Motors’ Flint Processing Center. The incident, where it’s reported a driver leaving the facility hit five members of the picket line, wasn’t the only violence Fain said has occurred.

Five injured in hit and run at picketing General Motors facility near Flint

“We’ve had guns pulled on us. Trucks and cars ran through us and violent threats hurled at us. And I want to be absolutely clear. We will not be intimidated into backing down by the companies or their scabs,” Fain said. “Our solidarity is our strength and right now, our strength is the hope of working class people everywhere. Let’s stand up and win this thing for ourselves, for our families, for our communities, for our country, and for our future.”

The UAW is using a staggered approach to its strike, called a “Stand Up Strike” plan, where instead of all the plants striking together, select plants are periodically informed to “stand up and walk out.” 

Prior to Friday, a total of 41 locations were called to strike across 21 states, with 14 of the locations being in Michigan.

This is bigger than even the Detroit Three, Fain said, noting several other labor actions that have occurred since the UAW went on strike against the automakers. Notably, the Detroit Casino Council (DCC) UNITE HERE workers at Detroit’s three casinos — MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino and Hollywood at Greektown — will vote Friday on whether to authorize their own strike.

Photo credit: Anna Liz Nichols

Originally published on September 29th, 2023, in the Michigan Advance. 

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New Elmore County men’s prison will cost over $1 billion

Price tag nearly equals the money legislators allocated for two men’s prisons

BY: BRIAN LYMAN

A state authority Tuesday put a “final guaranteed maximum price” on a new men’s prison in Elmore County at $1.082 billion, nearly equal to what legislators two years ago allocated for two men’s prisons.

The higher price tag – blamed on inflation and changes to spaces in the building – makes the construction of a second prison in Escambia County uncertain. It also throws other projects tentatively approved by the Legislature, including renovations to existing prisons and the construction of a new women’s prison, into doubt.

“We’ve got to move forward and do a good job,” said Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville, the chair of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, following the meeting of the Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority (ACIFA). “I’ve been out to the site, and it literally is a small city coming out of the ground.”

Alabama’s prisons, overcrowded for decades, have suffered a wave of physical and sexual violence that led to a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020. Gov. Kay Ivey and corrections officials argued for years that new prisons would be safer for inmates and staff, cost less to run, and have space for educational, vocational and rehabilitation programs to prevent people from returning to prisons.

The Legislature in 2021 approved the construction of 4,000-bed men’s prisons in Elmore and Escambia County for $1.3 billion. The legislation also authorized renovations of the Donaldson and Limestone correctional facilities; either the Bullock or Ventress Correctional Facility, and the construction of a 1,000-bed women’s prison to replace Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, built in 1942.

 The Alabama Corrections Institution Finance Authority (AFICA) meets shortly before approving a “final guaranteed maximum price” on an Elmore County prison on Sept. 26, 2023. From left to right: Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm; Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore (with back to camera); Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville; Bureau of Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward, and Gov. Kay Ivey.

The legislation did not provide a dedicated funding source for anything but the new men’s prisons.

The Elmore County facility should include major medical, training and rehabilitation programs. The Escambia County facility would not have programs of the same scale.

Critics of the project argue Alabama’s prison crisis stems from culture, not buildings and say the new construction will not address the culture of violence in the prisons.

Alina Arbuthnot of Maynard Nexsen, which has represented the state in the construction process, estimated Tuesday that costs had gone up by approximately $500 million. Arbuthnot said inflation, including the increased cost of construction materials, had played a role, but additions to the project had also affected it.

“We’ve added interior programming space, as well as vocational and educational space,” she said. “Some other items that were required by court order, as well as making a couple of changes that will help us save money on lifecycle and maintenance over the course of the service life of the facility. Maybe some upfront costs now that should save us annually.”

Ivey, who chairs the ACIFA, said in a statement that the prisons are “critically important to public safety, to our criminal justice system and to Alabama as a whole” and blamed inflation for the price increase.

“We have not built new prisons in more than 30 years, and if it was easy, it would have been attempted by a governor before me,” the statement said. “No doubt this is a major undertaking, but we are pressing on.”

Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund chair Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, said he was “concerned” about the additional price tag.

“I think we started out low,” Albritton said after the meeting. “I think we didn’t go back and revisit what we should have done. That was an error.”

The state is paying for the prison with $400 million in COVID relief money; $135 million in money appropriated from the General Fund, and about $500 million in borrowing. The Elmore County Prison is expected to be completed in May 2026.

The fate of the Escambia County prison and other projects are less certain. Albritton said “we’ve got to find the path,” and Reynolds said legislators would watch the progress of the Elmore County project.

“We’ll have to see on time and on what the market does,” he said. “I think it’s too early to answer that. They will just monitor that until February.”

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Vigils For Tortuguita: Land Defenders Erupt In Solidarity, Progressive Hub

This article originally appeared in the Alabama Reflector on September 26th, 2023.  

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French decision to withdraw troops from Niger is a testimony “to the determination and will of the Nigerien people”

After withdrawing from Mali and Burkina Faso, and now on the way out from Niger, Chad is the last of the now practically defunct G5 Sahel country to host a permanent base of France.

September 25, 2023 by Pavan Kulkarni

French president Emmanuel Macron said on September 24 that the country will withdraw its troops from Niger. The announcement came after the country had refused to do so in a nearly two-months-long stand-off with Niger’s military government which ordered the French troops to leave the country soon after taking power in a popularly welcomed coup on July 26.

The withdrawal of its 1,500 troops will take place over “the months and weeks to come” and conclude by the end of this year, Macron said on Sunday.

France also decided to withdraw its ambassador, Sylvain Itté, who had earlier been asked to stay put in the embassy even after Nigerien authorities canceled his diplomatic card and visa late last month, and ordered the police to expel him. “In the next hours, our ambassador…will return to France,” added Macron.

“This Sunday, we celebrate the new step towards the sovereignty of Niger,” its military government, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), said in a statement soon after. “It is a historic moment which testifies to the determination and will of the Nigerien people…Imperialist and neo-colonialist forces are no longer welcome on our national territory.”

The CNSP was formed after the coup on July 26, ousting former Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum, who had welcomed more French troops and instituted a crackdown on the domestic protest movement against the French deployment.

Amid mass-demonstrations welcoming the coup and demanding the withdrawal of French troops, CNSP terminated the military agreements that had allowed France to deploy troops in Niger. The agreements entailed a one-month notice period which ended early this month.

However, French troops had continued to stay “in a position of illegality”, the CNSP-appointed Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman, had complained earlier this month. The former colonizer had refused to withdraw its troops on the grounds that it did not recognize the authority of the CNSP, insisting that Bazoum remains Niger’s president.

Even on announcing the withdrawal, Macron said, “We will consult the putschists, because we want this (withdrawal) to be done peacefully,” but maintained that France does not recognize the CNSP and continues to regard Bazoum as the “sole legitimate authority”.

Abdoulaye Seydou, national coordinator of the anti-imperialist M62 movement who had been imprisoned under Bazoum and released post-coup, had warned France late last month that “all the villages, all the surrounding communes will descend” on its base in capital Niamey, if its troops do not to leave. By the start of this month, protests demanding troop-withdrawal had become an almost daily event outside the French base.

France, however, had remained obstinate, and even extended support to the military action threatened by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore Bazoum to Niger’s presidency. However, the regional bloc was beset with protests and domestic opposition to war in several of its member states.

The Senate in neighboring Nigeria, the strongest military power in the bloc, refused to support the deployment of its troops. The African Union (AU) also refused to support the French-backed military intervention by ECOWAS.

In the meantime, Niger was assured of military support by Mali and Burkina Faso, which, like Niger, were also suspended from ECOWAS and sanctioned after popular coups, following which their military governments ordered French troops to leave.

After entering into a defense pact, with an agreement that an attack on one will be treated as an attack on all the three, inviting a joint military response, the three countries went on to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) on September 16.

In an open letter to the transitional presidents of the three countries, the West African Peoples’ Organization (WAPO) welcomed the formation of AES, “as the beginning of the realization of the ideals of the Founding Fathers of Pan-Africanism including Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Kwame Nkrumah, Sékou Touré, Modibo Kéita, Patrice Lumumba, etc.”

It called for devolution of “power to the masses through defense committees” in its letter to the heads of AES, one of whose objectives is to counter the “armed groups, irregular armed forces or mercenaries”.

France accused of supporting terrorist groups in Sahel

One of the reasons Macron gave for his decision to withdraw troops was that the Nigerien authorities “no longer wanted to fight against terrorism”.

However, Mali, which has lost several dozen soldiers in the fight against Islamist insurgency over the last year, including 20 only this month, had alleged in August 2022 that France had breached airspace more than 50 times that year and dropped weapons to terrorist groups. While France rejected the allegation, Niger’s CNSP also said on September 22 that France was financing and equipping terrorist groups in Sahel.

Over the last decade, Islamist insurgencies have spread across Sahel in the aftermath of the destruction of Libya by NATO’s war, in which France was a key participant. With the stated aim of defeating these insurgencies, France started Operation Barkhane in 2014. By the time the operation ended in failure last year, violence involving Islamist Militants had nearly tripled in the Sahel.

At its peak strength, France’s Barkhane force had 5,500 troops deployed in what was called the G5 Sahel – namely Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, where it had permanent bases, and in Mauritania.

After withdrawing from Mali and Burkina Faso, and now on the way out from Niger, Chad is the last of the now practically defunct G5 Sahel countries to host a permanent base of France. While threatening military action against Niger ostensibly to restore democracy, France supports military rule in Chad. However, its future in Chad is far from secure, with a rising resentment against France and the military regime it is seen to have imposed on Chadian people.

This article originally appeared at PeoplesDispatch.org on September 25th, 2023.  

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The Baltimore Sun’s Reckoning on Freddie Gray

 JUSTINE BARRON

Five days after Freddie Gray’s death, the Baltimore Sun (4/24/15) published on its website an interactive slideshow on his arrest, which it updated later that month as the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) added information. Audiences could click through a timeline of details of Gray’s long April 12, 2015, ride in a Baltimore police van, during which police reportedly made six stops before officers said they discovered their prisoner was unconscious. (Gray died on April 19, after a week in a coma.)

The slideshow was almost entirely sourced from the statements given by BPD leaders during press conferences, without independent corroboration. Some of the police claims were repeated as fact, with no attribution. “The driver of the transport van believes that Gray is acting irate in the back,” it stated at one point.