JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant that claimed a local news outlet defamed him in public comments about its Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the misspending of $77 million in federal welfare funds.
The one-page ruling Friday by Madison County Circuit Court Judge Bradley Mills sided with lawyers for Mississippi Today, who had argued that the news outlet engaged in constitutionally protected speech.
“For the past 22 months, we’ve vigorously defended our Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting and our characterizations of Bryant’s role in the Mississippi welfare scandal,” Mississippi Today said in a statement on its website. “We are grateful today that the court, after careful deliberation, dismissed the case.”
Bryant filed suit in 2023, weeks after Mississippi Today and one of its reporters, Anna Wolfe, won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of how welfare funds intended for poor Mississippians — some of the most impoverished people in the U.S. — were diverted to the rich and powerful.
Bryant’s lawsuit didn’t challenge the accuracy of Wolfe’s series, “The Backchannel,” that shed light on the welfare scandal. Instead, Bryant’s lawyers argued that the news outlet, its CEO and other employees made slanderous comments about Bryant when discussing the series in public settings, including a radio interview and a speech at a journalism conference.
Attorneys for Mississippi Today argued that the comments Bryant claimed had harmed his reputation were “entirely or substantially true,” and that Bryant failed to show any of the statements were made with “actual malice” — meaning they were knowingly or recklessly false. Because of that, the lawyers said, Bryant didn’t meet the legal standard for politicians and other public figures to prove defamation as set by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964.
Bryant’s attorney, William Quin II, said Monday he will appeal the judge’s dismissal to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
“This matter is far from over,” Quin said in an emailed statement. “Governor Bryant remains confident in the legal basis of this case, and the righteousness of this cause.”
The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists praised the judge’s decision to throw out the lawsuit.
“Suing news organizations just because you don’t like their reporting is a crude intimidation tactic that can drain resources and discourage critical coverage,” Katherine Jacobsen, the committee’s U.S. program coordinator, said in a statement posted on X. “We hope that this case serves as a deterrent to those who would seek to sue outlets into silence.”
Prosecutors have said the state’s human services agency gave money to nonprofit organizations that spent it on projects such as a $5 million volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi — a project for which retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre agreed to raise money.
Mississippi Auditor Shad White announced in February 2020 that criminal charges were brought against six people, including John Davis, a former Mississippi Department of Human Services executive director who had been chosen by Bryant. The announcement came weeks after Bryant, a Republican, finished his second and final term as governor. Davis and others have pleaded guilty.
No criminal charges have been filed against Bryant, and he has said he told the auditor in 2019 about possible misspending of money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families antipoverty program.
Favre also has not been charged with a crime. The Pro Football Hall of Famer 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 TANF.
White, the Republican state auditor, said in 2020 that Favre had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare money with approval from the state Department of Human Services. White said Favre did not show up for the speeches. Although Favre repaid the $1.1 million, White said last year that he still owes nearly $730,000 in interest.
