A jury ordered Alex Jones to pay $50 million in damages to the parents of a Sandy Hook victim. The revelation that his legal team inadvertently shared Jones’ cell phone data with the opposing counsel makes matters even worse for him.
UPDATE (Aug. 5, 2022, 7:10 p.m. ET): This story has been updated to include additional information from the plaintiffs’ attorney about Alex Jones’ cell phone data, which the defendant’s legal team accidentally shared with the opposing counsel last month.
It was the Perry Mason moment heard round the world. And by that, I mean Wednesday’s live, in-court revelation that attorneys for far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones inadvertently sent two years worth of texts and emails from Jones’ cell phone to his opponents in a defamation trial.
Using those emails and texts judiciously and strategically, Texas lawyer Mark Bankston gave a masterclass in cross-examination, alleging Jones lied about everything from his very use of email to his financial situation to the sincerity of his stated belief that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. It’s no wonder a jury concluded that Jones, who was held liable by default for refusing to provide relevant documents, including texts and emails, now owes $50 million — $4.1 million in compensatory damages and an eye-popping $42.5 million in punitive damages, which Jones’ lawyer already vowed to contest — to the parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre.
One would think it could not get worse for the Infowars host. But even before the jury announced its damages award, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble made a ruling that could far overshadow Jones’ monetary woes: She held that barring certain medical records belonging to other Sandy Hook families, Bankston’s possession and use of Jones’ phone data was generally fair game. Why? Because Jones’ lawyer — who realized his mistake but asked only that the other side “disregard” what he shared — failed to specifically identify any privileged material within the 10 days allotted under Texas court rules.
And it’s that decision that stands to make Jones’ life truly miserable. Not only did it leave him open to punitive damages to Lewis’ family and significant damages in two other, similar Sandy Hook cases, but it could also expose Jones to criminal investigation and prosecution in three areas outside Sandy Hook: bankruptcy fraud, obstruction of Congress and any crimes committed in connection to the Jan. 6 attack. (And that’s not even counting any exposure Jones might have simply for lying under oath during prior depositions or on the stand.)
First, as the trial was underway, Jones’ parent media company filed for federal bankruptcy protection, just as some of its subsidiaries did in April. Wednesday’s court proceedings, however, suggest that Jones’ claims of poverty are false. Although Jones has testified that he “lost millions of dollars” after he and Infowars were “deplatformed” in 2018 from YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Apple, the contents of Jones’ phone apparently show his revenue increased — and that on some days, he made more than $800,000 through products sold through Infowars advertisements.
