The journalist who uncovered Brett Favre’s welfare fraud scandal now faces potential jail time for refusing to disclose her sources.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who uncovered Brett Favre’s welfare fraud scandal with former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant now faces potential jail time for refusing to disclose her sources from the investigative report.
Anna Wolfe, a reporter with the nonprofit news outlet Mississippi Today, is embroiled in a lawsuit Bryant filed in response to her investigative journalism that revealed his alleged involvement in a $77 million welfare fraud scandal, ESPN reports. As part of the lawsuit, Bryant is seeking access to all of Wolfe’s notes, emails, and confidential sources, which a judge has ruled must be turned over by her and the news outlet.
Mississippi Today has labeled the order as “unconstitutional” and has appealed to the state supreme court, with Wolfe and her editor, Adam Ganucheau, standing firm in their refusal to disclose confidential sources. They assert they would rather defy the court and risk potential jail time or, more likely, see their news organization face significant financial penalties.