Photo: Getty Images
The House select committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, has received roughly two years' worth of text messages from Alex Jones, CNN reported.
A lawyer for Jones inadvertently sent the messages to the legal team representing two Sandy Hook parents who were suing Jones for defamation.
Jones' attorney Federico Andino Reynal petitioned the court to order attorney Mark Bankston to destroy the records. His request was denied by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who told Bankston, "I'm not standing between you and Congress."
"That is not my job. I'm not going to do that."
It is unclear if all 2.3 gigabytes of data from the cell were turned over to the committee. While little is known about what was in the messages, Business Insider reported that it contained "intimate messages" with Roger Stone. It also reportedly includes financial information about Jones' company Free Speech Systems, which could contradict statements he made under oath and open him up to perjury charges.
Last week, a jury ordered Jones to pay $4.1 million in compensatory damages and $45 million in punitive damages to Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose son was killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
After the school shooting, Jones claimed it was fake and accused the victims and their families of being crisis actors. Jones' false claims resulted in his fans harassing and threatening the families who lost their loved ones in the mass shooting.