MDHS v. MCEC is a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services seeking to recoup tens of millions of dollars of misappropriated welfare funds meant to help struggling Mississippi families through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  Our clients, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, The Mississippi Free Press, and Mississippi Today, moved to intervene in the lawsuit in order to oppose former Governor Phil Bryant’s request for a protective order asking to shield from public view any records, emails, and text messages he is required to produce relating to the University of Southern Mississippi volleyball facility, which was built while he was in office using millions of dollars in TANF welfare funds. The news organizations wish to review those records as part of their vital reporting on the lawsuit and the largest public fraud scandal in Mississippi state history.