Lisa Backus
August 4, 2022 Updated: August 4, 2022, 12:17 p.m.
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Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, questions Alex Jones about his emails and text messages during his trial in Travis County District Court, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
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Judge Maya Guerra Gamble has a private conversation with Andino Reynal, attorney for Alex Jones, and Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during a trial at the Travis County Courthouse, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
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Alex Jones tries to answer questions about his text messages from Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during the trial in Travis County District Court in Austin, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jones testified Wednesday, that he now realizes it was irresponsible of him to call the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre a hoax and that he now believes it was “100 percent real” (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
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Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, questions Alex Jones about the text messages during his trial in Travis County District Court in Austin, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jones testified Wednesday that he now understands it was irresponsible of him to announce that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is a hoax and that he now believes it is “100 percent real” (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tries to answer questions about his emails from Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during his trial in Travis County District Court in Austin, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jones testified in Wednesday that he now realizes it was irresponsible of him to call the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre a hoax and that he now believes it is “100 percent real” (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tries to answer questions about his emails from Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during his trial in Travis County District Court in Austin, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jones testified in Wednesday that he now realizes it was irresponsible of him to call the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre a hoax and that he now believes it is “100 percent real” (Brianna Sanchez/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)
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Alex Jones tries to answer questions about his text messages from Mark Bankston, attorney for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during the trial in Travis County District Court in Austin, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. Jones testified Wednesday, that he now realizes that it was irresponsible of him to call the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings a hoax and that he now believes it to be “100% real.”
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AUSTIN, TEXAS — The attorney for Sandy Hook’s family says a U.S. House committee on Jan. 6 requested a copy of Alex Jones’ cellphone records, which the attorney for the owner of Infowars mistakenly gave to the attorney.
Attorney Mark Bankston told a Texas judge during a hearing Thursday morning that the tapes included “intimate communications with Roger Stone,” an ally of former President Donald Trump who was subpoenaed by a House committee along with Jones last year.
The judge, meanwhile, declined to call for a mistrial in the Sandy Hook libel awards trial after Jones’ attorney filed a protective order Thursday morning seeking to bar the parents his client defamed from using the emails and text messages.
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Sandy Hook Families v. Alex Jones
Attorney Andino Reynal, representing Jones, asked for a mistrial while seeking the order after it was revealed during testimony Wednesday that he inadvertently sent attorneys for Sandy Hook parents Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin reams of information, including text messages and emails from his client to others, including Donald Trump ally Roger Stone.
Raynal claims he asked Bankston, representing Lewis and Heslin, to ignore the link to the information. Bankston said he didn’t have to because Raynal never formally requested that privileged or confidential information be removed.
The texts and emails show Jones communicated with other people about Sandy Hook in recent years, Bankston said. Jones had told the bench this week that he had searched his phone and had no communication with Sandy Hook.
The hearing was held as a jury deliberated how much compensation Heslin and Lewis should receive for being defamed by Jones, who repeatedly called their son’s death a “hoax” perpetrated by “crisis actors.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Writers Jordan Nathaniel Fenster and John Moritz contributed to this story.
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