Mississippi Swindle

How America’s youngest state auditor uncovered the largest public corruption scandal in the history of the nation’s poorest state

“A must read” with all the thrills of a John Grisham novel — for fans of shocking true crime exposés like Black Edge and Bad Blood (Peter Schweizer, author of Secret Empires)

This riveting exposé details how a small team of auditors and investigators, led by the youngest State Auditor in the country, uncovered a brazen scheme where the powerful stole millions in welfare funds from the poor in a sprawling conspiracy that stretched from Mississippi to Malibu.

Well-connected donors, highly placed officials, and popular public figures, including Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, lined their own pockets with tens of millions of dollars diverted from the federal government's TANF — temporary assistance for needy families — program until a Republican auditor, his small team of dedicated investigators, and a Democratic prosecutor joined forces to hold them accountable in the face of intense obstruction and harassment.

Peopled with unforgettable characters — from the perpetrators; to the impoverished citizens for whom the money was intended; to the investigators, prosecutors, and reporters who held them to account — Mississippi Swindle is a political and true crime drama that highlights larger crises while appealing to a broad nationwide audience.