JACKSON, Miss. (NewsNation) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is requesting to be removed from a lawsuit by the state of Mississippi that seeks to recover millions of dollars in misspent welfare money.

An attorney for Favre filed papers on Monday saying the Mississippi Department of Human Services “groundlessly and irresponsibly seeks to blame Favre for its own grossly improper and unlawful handling of welfare funds and its own failure to properly monitor and audit” how organizations used the money.

“Including Favre in this lawsuit has had the intended effect — it has attracted national media attention to this case,” Favre’s attorney, Eric D. Herschmann, wrote in the filing in Hinds County Circuit Court.

Herschmann wrote that the lawsuit focuses on the welfare agency’s “false insinuations concerning Favre’s supposed involvement” rather than on the agency, “which in fact is responsible for allowing this scandal to occur.”

It was not immediately clear how soon Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson might consider the request.

Favre is not facing criminal charges. He is among more than three dozen people or companies being sued by the Mississippi Department of Human Services as it seeks to recover a portion of the money misspent in the state’s largest-ever public corruption case. The department filed the lawsuit in May, saying the defendants “squandered” more than $20 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program.

Favre has repaid $1.1 million he received for speaking fees from the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group that spent TANF money with approval from the Department of Human Services. But State Auditor Shad White said Monday that Favre still owes $228,000 in interest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.