Topline
A lawyer representing two parents of a student killed in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting has given two years’ worth of InfoWars host Alex Jones’ text messages to the January 6 committee, CNN reported on Monday, a week after the attorney revealed Jones’ legal team had accidentally disclosed dozens of emails and text messages from Jones’ phone.
InfoWars host Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his emails during trial.
Key Facts
Mark Bankston, a lawyer who represented the Sandy Hook parents in defamation lawsuits against Jones, told CNN he was “cooperating with the committee” after telling a judge last week he “intend[ed]” to hand the texts over.
CNN cited a “person familiar with the matter” who said Monday the messages had been turned over to the panel.
The news comes a week after Bankston shared during the Sandy Hook parents’ trial that Jones’ lawyers mistakenly sent years of records from his cellphone proving Jones sent emails and text messages about the massacre after he had previously testified under oath he had searched “Sandy Hook” on his phone and found no results.
It also comes after months of efforts from the House panel to obtain text messages from Jones, who has ties to the leader of the Oath Keepers militia and who the January 6 panel says played a role in orchestrating the rally on January 6.
A representative for the January 6 committee did not respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Key Background
Jones spread a host of false claims about election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. He was also at the Capitol on January 6—though he did not breach the building—spreading false claims of a rigged election, while sometimes encouraging the crowd to be peaceful, according to the New York Times. The January 6 committee first subpoenaed Jones in November, asking for documents concerning misinformation he spread about the election, accusing him of helping lead the rally at the Ellipse before the insurrection. Jones sued to try and block the subpoenas, but eventually testified before the House panel in January, where he said he refused to answer questions and denounced the insurrection. The committee has also subpoenaed for documents from Jones’ bodyguard on January 6. During a defamation damages trial last week, Jones’ lawyers urged Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Austin, Texas, to prevent Bankston from giving Jones’ text messages to the January 6 committee after Bankston revealed they were in his possession, but the judge refused, telling Bankston she would not stand “between you and Congress.” Bankston has said the texts include messages with political strategist and longtime Trump ally Roger Stone.
Tangent
A jury in Austin, Texas last week decided Jones must pay $45.2 million in damages to the Sandy Hook parents, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose child Jesse was killed in the 2012 massacre, for promoting false conspiracy theories that the massacre was a hoax. Jones during the trial last week said he believes the 2012 elementary school shooting in Connecticut was “100% real.” The parents had been seeking $150 million in damages. The decision came a day after the jury in the defamation trial decided to award the family $4.1 million in compensatory damages. Jones faces several lawsuits for the false claims he spread about the school shooting.
Further Reading
First on CNN: Alex Jones’ texts have been turned over to the January 6 committee, source says (CNN)
Lawyer Says He Intends to Give Alex Jones’s Texts to House Jan. 6 Panel (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/madelinehalpert/2022/08/08/alex-jones-texts-reportedly-given-to-january-6-committee/