Lawyers for Alex Jones appeared to have accidentally sent over the entire contents of the Infowars founder’s phone to the lawyers for the plaintiffs in his defamation trial, according to court proceedings Wednesday.
Mark Bankston, a lawyer for the parents of one of the children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and who are now suing Jones, said during the proceedings that “12 days ago, his [Jones’] attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text” and email from Jones' phone.
After Bankston told Jones that the Sandy Hook parents’ legal team had access to years of his texts and emails, he asked Jones, “Do you know what perjury is?”
Bankston did not respond to a request for comment. An inquiry to Infowars was not immediately returned. NBC News has not independently acquired or verified the authenticity of the messages discussed by Bankston during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Parents of Sandy Hook victims are suing Jones for $150 million in damages after Jones claimed the shooting was “synthetic,” a “false flag,” and that the families of those who were killed were “crisis actors.”
Jones has since apologized, claiming that he has not personally published nor signed off on Sandy Hook conspiracy theories for years. New texts revealed by Bankston on Wednesday appeared to show Jones signing off on more Sandy Hook conspiracy theories five years after the tragedy.
The phone documents also appeared to reveal Infowars’ long-hidden finances.
Bankston outlined several days in 2018 in which Infowars made over $800,000 per day. Jones did not dispute the veracity of the emails or the dollar figures, but claimed some of their higher-profit days came during the week of CPAC, the conservative conference.
Earlier in the trial, Jones said the highest figure his company made was $200,000 per day.
Minutes later, taking questions from the jury, Jones claimed a $2 million judgment in the case “will sink us.” Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, filed for bankruptcy in late July.
Jones also had previously claimed that being “deplatformed,” or permanently suspended from services like Twitter and Facebook, had negatively affected the company’s bottom line, likening the situation to “jail.” Bankston said the newly revealed financial documents show that the opposite is true — the company made more money than ever after it was banned from platforms like Facebook and YouTube in 2018.
“Well after your deplatforming, your numbers keep getting better,” Bankston said.
Infowars is a private company and is not required to disclose financial records. The company largely makes money by selling emergency survival food and goods, and rebranded supplements like Infowars’ Brain Force Plus. Jones said during the trial that some of the supplements are sold at a 100% markup, and at one point he bragged about the quality of his supplements.
Neither Jones nor his lawyers appeared to be aware that Sandy Hook parents’ lawyers had access to Jones’ emails and texts. Bankston said he had let Jones’ lawyers know about the mishap 12 days ago.
On an open microphone in a recess, Bankston asked his fellow lawyers: “You know what nobody’s thought about yet? What happens when that phone goes to law enforcement?”
