By the late 2010s, the Mississippi Department of Human Services annually received approximately $86.5 million from the United States federal government in a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
State audits regularly criticized the Department of Human Services for lax monitoring controls for federal grant spending.
[2] At the time, the agency was providing a record low number of recipients with direct cash assistance welfare in favor of other programs, such as job training classes.
[1] In 2020, Brett Favre's involvement with the development and promotion of a concussion treatment drug, Prevasol, by the Prevacus corporation, came under scrutiny.
During Davis' tenure, the Department of Human Services also awarded grants totaling over $2 million to the Heart of David Ministry, a nonprofit owned by Ted DiBiase.
[1] The Northeast Mississippi Football Coaches Association was revealed to have received $30,000 in welfare money in early 2019 as a donation "in consideration of ... having Ted DiBiase Jr. as banquet speaker.
[2][14] Text messages from November 2018 also revealed that Brett Favre, who had invested in the company since 2014, played a prominent role in connecting VanLandingham with Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
[1] On June 21, 2019, following the conducting of an internal audit, concerned employees at the Department of Human Services informed Governor Bryant that agency funds may have been misspent.
[1] On February 5, 2020, following the delivery of indictments in the Hinds County Circuit Court, special agents from the office of the State Auditor arrested several people whom they accused of embezzling TANF funds: John Davis, Department of Human Services employee Latimer Smith, Brett DiBiase, and Nancy New, Zach New, Anne McGrew, officials of the Mississippi Community Education Center.
[14] Following the arrests, the Department of Human Services announced it would require stringent documentation from subgrantees and began an internal inquiry to determine if any current agency employees were involved in the impropriety.
[23] On July 22, the director of the Department of Human Services, Bob Anderson, fired Pigott from his position as lead counsel on the state's lawsuit.
[24] Anderson initially attributed the dismissal to Pigott's failure to inform his superiors about his plans to subpoena documents concerning the volleyball stadium from the University of Southern Mississippi before saying that the state needed a larger legal team.
[25] In August 2023, the Mississippi Supreme Court denied Brett Favre's request to be removed as a defendant from the civil lawsuit.
[27][28] Former governor Phil Bryant subsequently sued Mississippi Today, the outlet which broke the story, and its lead reporter, Anna Wolfe, alleging defamation.