WASHINGTON — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he told a congressional committee Tuesday.

Favre made the disclosure as part of his testimony about a welfare embezzlement scandal in Mississippi. Favre, who is not facing criminal charges, has paid back just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a state welfare program and was also an investor in a biotech company with ties to the case. The biotech company has said it developed concussion treatments.

The former soccer star told the committee he lost his investment in the company “which I believed was developing a breakthrough drug for concussions that I thought could help others.”

“As you can probably understand, it is too late for me (I was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s), but this is also a cause close to my heart,” Favre said.

What causes Parkinson’s is unknown, and it’s unclear whether Favre’s disease is related to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he’s suffered “thousands” of concussions in his two decades in the NFL.

Favre appeared at the hearing of the Republican-led House Finance Committee to advocate for reform of the federal welfare system to better prevent fraud.

“The challenges my family and I have faced over the past three years as certain Mississippi government officials failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse and falsely tried to blame me have damaged my reputation and are worse than anything I have ever experienced in football,” Favre said.

House Republicans have said a Mississippi welfare waste scandal involving Favre and others highlights the need for an overhaul of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Favre said he was unaware the payments he received came from welfare funds, noting that his charity had donated millions of dollars to needy children in his home state of Mississippi and in Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.