The defamation trial against Infowars founder Alex Jones took a big turn on Wednesday when the attorneys representing the parents of a Sandy Hook victim said that that Jones’ attorney accidentally sent them the conspiracy theorist’s text messages.
Mark Bankston, who is representing the parents of a Sandy Hook victim who are suing Jones over his claims the shooting was a hoax, revealed the information during the trial, which is happening now.
“Twelve days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text,” Bankston reportedly said, according to NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins. “You know what perjury is?”
Wow. Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer is revealing that Alex Jones’ lawyers sent him the contents of Jones’ phone BY MISTAKE.
“12 days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text” Jones has sent for years.
“You know what perjury is?” the lawyer asks.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
Collins, who is watching the trial, followed up his tweet by saying that Bankston was “now asking Jones about the times he has emailed about Sandy Hook over the last several years, despite testifying under oath he couldn’t find any emails about Sandy Hook. There are apparently a lot of them.”
Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer is now asking Jones about the times he has emailed about Sandy Hook over the last several years, despite testifying under oath he couldn’t find any emails about Sandy Hook. There are apparently a lot of them. One is on a screen right now.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
In another tweet, Collins said the judge in the case began instructing jurors “on the entire contents of Alex Jones’ phone.”
“What we do know is that it was not properly turned over when it should have been,” the judge said, according to Collins.
Not only did the texts apparently confirm Jones had discussed Sandy Hook despite earlier testimony, they also revealed that, for at least a couple days in 2018, Jones’ website Infowars earned up to $800,000, a number Jones said was the result of a good week during the Conservative Political Action Convention.
These texts and emails are FINALLY revealing financials behind Infowars.
Some days in 2018, InfoWars was making $800,000 a day.
“Well after your deplatforming, your numbers keep getting better,” Sandy Hook parents’ lawyer says.
If they keep that up, that’s ~$300 mill. a year.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) August 3, 2022
Jones is being sued by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was one of 20 children killed during a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Jones spoke in his defense on Tuesday, explaining he never intended to cause them harm when he falsely claimed the shooting was a hoax.
“I question every big event,” Jones said on the stand, according to Yahoo News.
At the time, Jones claimed the mass shooting was staged and called the parents of the slain children “crisis actors” allegedly hired by the “deep state.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Heslin and Lewis testified against Jones.
“Jesse was real,” Lewis reportedly said. “I am a real mom.”
Jones said on the stand that he believes “Scarlett Lewis is real” and that “her son died.” Jones also admitted on the stand that the massacre was “100% real,” CBS News reported.
As Yahoo noted, Jones has been hosting his popular conspiracy program throughout the trial, and said on Tuesday – while Heslin was testifying in court – that the grieving father “acts like somebody on the spectrum” and “is being manipulated by some very bad people.”
Jones testified later that day as the only witness in his defense. After the jury was released, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble scolded Jones for “abusing my tolerance and making asides to the jury.”
“This is not your show,” Gamble told Jones, according to Yahoo. “You’re under oath. That means things must actually be true when you say them.”
“I believed them to be true,” Jones responded.
“You believe everything is true,” Gamble said.