Pulitzer Prize winning journalist faces jail time

July 4, 2024 7:11 AM

She exposed misspent welfare funds in the US's poorest state; the former governor is suing her for defamation

All the articles journalist Anna Wolfe wrote last year in welfare fraud that did not go to the people they were intended for but lined the pockets of the then-governor Phil Bryant and his cronies.

posted by Kitteh (15 comments total)

Good on her for the reporting. She has nothing to do with the defamation of saying he "embezzled" funds, so why is she a party to the lawsuit? That was on the CEO of her paper. I agree that the CEO should not have used that term, and is in the wrong. But revealing the reporter's sources has nothing to do with the defamation either. This is just another attempt to pierce the armor of the free press.
posted by hydra77 at 7:29 AM on July 4 [16 favorites]

In a good timeline, this would be an absolutely scorching self-own. In ours, I'm sure it's just a savvy move to preen for Trump.
posted by McBearclaw at 7:32 AM on July 4 [6 favorites]

Jesus, Mississippi. Stay classy.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 7:40 AM on July 4 [4 favorites]

The emboldening continues.
posted by Sphinx at 8:34 AM on July 4 [3 favorites]

According to state figures, as of June, 1,423 families and 2,522 individuals are receiving federal welfare grants administered by Mississippi, a state where 548,000 people live in poverty.

And they spent millions on a volleyball stadium with aid money. Among lots of other things.
posted by Ickster at 8:58 AM on July 4 [12 favorites]

Then-lieutenant governor Tate Reeves was also involved. He's the governor now.

He's kept himself busy with things like opting out of federal summer food programs, declaring Confederate Heritage Month, and signing bathroom bans.
posted by box at 9:18 AM on July 4 [12 favorites]

According to state figures, as of June, 1,423 families and 2,522 individuals are receiving federal welfare grants administered by Mississippi, a state where 548,000 people live in poverty.

> And they spent millions on a volleyball stadium with aid money. Among lots of other things.

And only recently finally made moves, a decade late, towards accepting federal Medicaid expansion funds... but then didn't. Insured people would have less incentive to work, apparently.
posted by trig at 9:21 AM on July 4 [4 favorites]

Wow, I had missed this story. Wild.

I genuinely don’t understand how people can steal from a welfare program at such a massive scale - it feels so substantially morally wrong. But, “You see in others what you see in your own heart.” If you think it’s ok for YOU to steal, you probably assume it’s because others are stealing - you’re just cleverer for getting there first.
posted by samthemander at 9:24 AM on July 4 [7 favorites]

Just a reminder from a former welfare clerk that the vast, vast majority of welfare fraud is committed by those who administer the welfare system not by recipients.
posted by SansPoint at 9:29 AM on July 4 [40 favorites]

The usual suspects on the SCOTUS are keen to revisit - and render impotent - the first amendment to the constitution.

With the way things are currently going, however, such revision may not be necessary.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 10:26 AM on July 4 [1 favorite]

Nearly THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO the Zenger trial established that TRUTH is a defense against accusations of libel.

And yet, here we are (again).
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:39 AM on July 4

Nearly THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO the Zenger trial established that TRUTH is a defense against accusations of libel.

If I understood the article correctly, all parties agree that the statement was untrue; the question is whether it was intentional.
posted by demi-octopus at 10:43 AM on July 4 [1 favorite]

[Ah. Well, that'll teach me to RTFA, I guess....]
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:22 AM on July 4

Wow, so no consequences have happened except for with journalism?

2020's, man. I'm not even really surprised any more.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:36 AM on July 4 [1 favorite]

Wow, so no consequences have happened except for with journalism?

'The purpose of a system is what it does (POSIWID) is a systems thinking heuristic coined by Stafford Beer, who observed that there is "no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do."'

It makes more sense if you dispense with the mistaken notion that the main purpose of the State of Mississippi welfare system is to alleviate poverty or help the poor.

Also, although he's not directly implicated here, I want to remind people that Brett Favre is a colossal asshole for many reasons but not least for his involvement in directing funds away from impoverished people in need of aid -- because his name should not be allowed to be forgotten any time these issues are discussed.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:25 PM on July 4 [17 favorites]