So former Governor Phil Bryant is claiming that the claim by the CEO of the paper that he embezzled (the CEO has since apologized for the error) was due to mali

So former Governor Phil Bryant is claiming that the claim by the CEO of the paper that he embezzled (the CEO has since apologized for the error) was due to malice. What I fail to understand though is how the identity of the sources demonstrates said malice. Moreover, there's a lot more here: > [Nancy] New said that at a 2019 Christmas party, Bryant talked about Jake Vanlandingham, founder of the Florida-based biotech company Prevacus. “Governor Bryant got excited and told me that Jake had offered him ‘half the company,’ which I understood to mean a substantial amount of stock, but the Governor said he was going to have to wait until he was out of office to accept,” New wrote. If you might recall, Brett Favre was paid $1M in speaking fees but never actually did any speeches and he advocated for government funds to be used to build a volleyball stadium at USM. I really think the simplest defense here will be to just show that Bryant was complicit in the embezzlement just because it seems more likely than not: > Bryant was governor from 2013 to 2020 and chose John Davis as director of the state Department of Human Services. Davis pleaded guilty in September 2022 to state and federal charges in a conspiracy to misspend tens of millions of dollars that were intended to help needy families in one of the poorest states in the U.S. > Favre had publicly said he supported the Prevacus effort to develop a concussion drug, and the state's civil lawsuit says Favre invested more than $250,000 in the Florida-based company. > “After the meeting, I asked John why he had committed so much funding so quickly,” New said in the court filing. “John said he had spoken with Governor Bryant and the Governor wanted Prevacus funded. John said the Governor was ‘all about this happening.’” Now to be clear I'm not saying the governor is guilty of embezzlement. I'm just saying that it seems like everyone that he surrounded himself with seems to have been caught doing shady shit stealing from welfare funds & denying 90% of applicants to these programs. Since the former Governor makes Christianity a core part of his identity, might I remind him 1st Corinthians 15:33 "Bad company ruins good morals". And if I were the prosecutors, I'd make real sure there's no case at all against the governor cause it seems like there's some smoke there that can be fanned into a fire. [1] https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2024/02/29/mississippi-former-gov-phil-bryant-expected-stake-in-company-that-got-welfare-money-nancy-new-said/72787184007/ https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2024/02/29/mississi...