Alex Jones’s Lawyer Accidentally Sent a Digital Copy of His Phone to Opposing Counsel, and the J6 Committee Wants It – Opinion

While I do not like headlines as long-winded as this, I cannot imagine how I would condense such a wild tale into something shorter but still informative.

Alex Jones is in the middle of a trial where he’s being sued for millions for all the emotional damage he caused claiming the Sandy Hook school shooting was fake. Jones is a conspiracy theorist, radio host and was taken to court by the Sandy Hook parents. He’s also lost his social media accounts over the years and his reach has been severely reduced.

Jones stood as an attorney on behalf of the Sandy Hook legal teams and was being questioned about Jones’ past statements. Jones was attempting (poorly) to defend himself when the lawyer revealed a very horrifying truth: That Jones’ own lawyer had sent a digital copy of Jones’ phone to the Sandy Hook lawyer by mistake It was never claimed to be privileged..

During parts of his testimony stretching over two days in a Texas courtroom, Jones repeatedly told jurors that he does not use email and that he had searched the contents of his phone for messages pertaining to Sandy Hook after he was sued by several family members of the victims for falsely saying the shooting was a hoax. The parents’ attorney suggested the cellphone records show Jones perjured himself on the stand.

[…]

Jones stated that his phone search in the discovery stage of the trial did not uncover any relevant messages. Texas Judge Maya Guerra Gamble has already ruled in favor of Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis by default, saying that Jones did not comply with the rules of discovery in the case.

Mark Bankston (who is representing Lewis and Heslin against Jones in their defamation lawsuit against Jones) asked Jones on Wednesday if he owned an email address or whether he sent text messages for discussion about Sandy Hook. Jones’ reply to both questions, under oath, was that he did not.

“Twelve days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text,” Bankston said. “Do you know what perjury is?”

If you watch the video of the exchange you can almost pinpoint the moment Jones’ soul leaves his body in fear (it’s at the 48-second mark).

It was an incredible moment in which Alex Jones learns that his own lawyer had accidentally sent a digital file of his phone to Sandy Hook parents’ lawyers, thus proving that Jones perjured.

h/t @Acynpic.twitter.com/ve4iGbwLM8

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 3, 2022

Bankston later told reporters on Wednesday that the records were sent by one of Reynal’s legal assistants through a file sharing platform, and that the file included several hundred gigabytes of data covering at least 27 months of phone records.

Under the legal rules of Texas, Bankston said he notified Reynal of the apparent mistake, kicking off a 10-day period in which Jones’ attorneys could notify the parents’ attorneys of any privileged records that needed to be returned. Bankston claimed that neither he or other members of the legal team had looked at any records within that 10-day period.

“All Reynal said at the time was ‘Whoops, that’s the wrong link, disregard,’” Bankston said.

Once the 10-day period ended, Bankston said he and co-counsel began combing through the phone records, uncovering messages that he said Jones’ lawyers should have turned over during discovery along with a trove of Jones’ private, personal communications.

That is certainly very embarrassing for Jones’ legal team, and a boon for the Sandy Hook team. But the drama doesn’t stop there, because of course it doesn’t and how dare you think it would. Don’t you EverYou might think that this could end there. This is Alex Jones we’re talking about, and he didn’t just disappear in the wake of his banning from social media (some might say it is unfortunate that he didn’t just disappear).

My friends, no. This wouldn’t be a true poopshow of a legal battle without the January 6 Committee somehow being involved.

I’m SCOOP and @swin24After Alex Jones accidentally sent years of communications to plaintiffs, his attorney has now requested that the January 6th committee request Alex Jones’ texts and emails. https://t.co/nJbn0x3Ldy

— Adam Rawnsley (@arawnsley) August 3, 2022

Now — a source familiar with the matter and another person briefed on it tell Rolling Stone — the January 6th committee is preparing to request that data from the plaintiff attorneys in order to aid its investigation of the insurrection. These internal deliberations among the committee, which is probing former President Donald Trump’s role in causing the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, began within minutes of the lawyer’s revelation being heard on the trial’s livestream on Wednesday afternoon.

Jones has already featured prominently in the panel’s investigation for his role in whipping up public support for the insurrection and for his close ties to alleged conspirator Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia. Jones hosted Rhodes on InfoWars frequently, and Jones’ militia was responsible for providing security to the Texas-based conspiracist.

In November 2021, Jones was subpoenaed by the committee. They asked him for documents and to take part in a deposition. Jones, according to a letter sent by the committee, was initially told by the White House on January 3, 2021 that he was “to lead a march to the Capitol, where President Trump would meet” with protesters.

So here’s what happened:

• A digital copy of Alex Jones’ phone was sent to opposing counsel in his Sandy Hook trial.
• The lawyers waited 10 days for Jones’ attorney to declare it is privileged. That declaration never came.
• Jones can be perjury accused by opposing counsel.
• The January 6 Committee is looking for any and all relevant information, and it will most likely obtain it.
• Thank you, God in Heaven! I pray that Alex Jones is brought to the January 6 Committee for another public hearing.

As if this was an episode Law & OrderIt would also be dismissed as too unrealistic. There’s no way this could be a believable piece of procedural fiction distilled into 47 minutes in NBC’s prime time line-up. But it’s happening in real life, and we’re all here to witness it.

Here, everyone is a winner. Alex Jones is the exception. I don’t think he’s in a great mood right now.