AP: “Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is suing a local news organization, claiming it defamed him in public comments on the misspending of $77 million of federal welfare funds intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
The lawsuit comes just over two months after Mississippi Today and one of its reporters, Anna Wolfe, won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the welfare misspending. The news outlet’s story announcing that honor is one example of where the former governor says he was defamed. Bryant’s attorney filed a complaint Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Madison County against the outlet’s CEO, Mary Margaret White, and Deep South Today, the outlet’s nonprofit owner.
The lawsuit, which does not appear to challenge the veracity of Mississippi Today’s findings about the welfare scandal, claims White and other employees made “slanderous” or unfounded comments about Bryant when discussing the outlet’s reporting in several public settings.”