Bryant threatens non-profit with defamation suit
A non-profit news organization is being threatened with a defamation lawsuit by former Gov. Phil Bryant in connection with comments an executive and two reporters have made about him in the wake of a $77 million welfare scandal they reported.
Mississippi Today, the non-profit, is being asked to retract false statements an executive made at a forum and that the reporters made this week on a podcast.
Bryant’s demand is the first step in a defamation lawsuit the former governor says he intends to file after the organization's CEO accused him of embezzling state funds during a national journalism forum earlier this year.
The news comes two days after the Ridgeland-based nonprofit organization won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in the $77 million Mississippi welfare scandal.
Bryant on Wednesday issued a formal seven-page letter of intent to sue the news organization for defamation.
Bryant gave the formal notice as required by state law to Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White, Editor & Chief Adam Ganucheau and Pulitzer-winning reporter Anna Wolfe.
White, while appearing at a Knight Foundation journalism forum in February 2023, said Mississippi Today’s reporting uncovered the welfare scheme that has since made national headlines, claiming Bryant “embezzled” state monies.
“We’re the newsroom that broke the story about $77 million in welfare funds intended for the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation,” White said during the forum. “Being embezzled by a former governor and his bureaucratic ponies to be used on pet projects like a state-of-the-art volleyball stadium at Brett Favre’s alma mater.”
Mississippi Today was one of the first news outlets to report on the scandal after State Auditor Shad White and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens held a press conference last fall announcing indictments following an 8-month investigation, wrongdoing Bryant has said he helped expose.
Bryant’s demand notice calls on Mississippi Today to “publish full-and-fair corrections of White’s false and defamatory statement and the subsequent comments” made by Ganucheau and Wolfe on an episode of the outlet’s podcast this week.
The letter goes on to say the public comments made by the three about Bryant were “demonstrably false.”
“Neither White nor Mississippi Today has any evidence suggesting, tending to suggest, proving, or tending to prove that Bryant converted or embezzled welfare funds,” the letter reads. “Former Governor Bryant did not embezzle welfare funds. White said otherwise.”
The letter concludes, “White’s statement at the February 2023 Knight Foundation media forum crossed the line separating innuendo and speculation from outright falsehood. The subsequent statements made by Ganucheau and Wolfe are demonstrably false and are calculated to gaslight and deceive the public. Former Governor Bryant demands an immediate public correction of all false and misleading statements made by Mississippi Today personnel, a public apology for having made these false and misleading statements, and an absolute and total retraction of the statements.”