Amid an ongoing investigation into his role in the Mississippi welfare fraud scandal, Brett Favre has hired an attorney who formerly worked for former President Donald Trump.
Axios first reported the news on Monday, noting that Eric Herschmann, the former White House lawyer, represented Trump in his first impeachment trial.
“Herschmann and Favre were connected by mutual friends,” Axios reported.
Favre is not yet facing criminal charges, but he was named in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this year by the state of Mississippi. Government officials are seeking the return of millions of dollars of misspent welfare funds.
“Favre was specifically accused of receiving welfare money in exchange for speeches he never made and of helping to funnel grant funds to companies he’d invested in,” as the Deseret News previously reported.
The former Green Bay Packers quarterback has denied knowing that funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program were being misused.
But recently released text messages have convinced many observers that he knew something was amiss.
“The texts show that the then-governor (of Mississippi) even guided Favre on how to write a funding proposal so that it could be accepted by the Mississippi Department of Human Services,” Mississippi Today reported.
In an interview with Axios, Herschmann said he has reviewed all the evidence and feels confident that Favre is innocent and should not face criminal charges.
“I only agreed to represent Brett Favre after I did my independent due diligence and was convinced that he did nothing wrong,” the lawyer said.