InfoWars host will sit for a deposition and appeal a judge’s fines, attorneys say

Attorneys for InfoWars host Alex Jones say he’ll finally sit for a deposition in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Jones was sued in 2018 by the families for making false claims about the shooting. Though Jones has already been found liable for defamation, the case continues, as a jury still needs to determine how much Jones owes in damages.

Attorneys for Jones now say he’ll show up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for a deposition on April 11.

“Mr. Jones has agreed to appear in Connecticut for a deposition at the plaintiffs’ law firm on April 11, 2022,” attorney Cameron Atkinson wrote in a court document filed Thursday

Jones was held in contempt of court on Wednesday after missing two full days of depositions last week. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis gave him until April 15 to sit for two full days of deposition, and for every weekday before then that he doesn’t sit for one, she’ll fine him at least $25,000.

“The court finds that Mr. Jones intentionally failed to comply with the orders of the court and that there is no adequate factual basis to explain his failures to obey the orders of the court,” Bellis said.

Still, as they agree to a deposition, Jones’ attorneys are trying to go above Bellis to turn back the fine. On Thursday, they appealed the fine to the Connecticut Supreme Court — though the judicial branch later said the appeal had been returned to the defense because of compliance issues. Jones’ attorneys said they’ll refile Friday.

“It would take a gift of understatement the undersigned do not possess to characterize as a mere abuse of discretion Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis’ decision to hold a defendant in a civil action in contempt and requiring him to pay fines totaling potentially $1.65 million for relying on a doctor’s note to not attend a deposition,” attorney Norm Pattis wrote in the Thursday filing.

Jones’ attorneys maintain that he’s not avoiding the deposition but that he just wants to wait for a doctor to clear him. His attorneys say he missed the March 23 and 24 depositions because he was dealing with multiple medical conditions, including a sinus blockage. But Bellis still ordered him to appear at the depositions, in part because Jones had been broadcasting his show from a studio outside of his home while attorneys were arguing for him to remain home under doctor’s orders.

Even though Bellis told him he could miss the deposition on March 24 if he’d been hospitalized, his attorneys never submitted evidence to her affirming a hospitalization.

This story was updated to reflect Jones' attorneys reaching back to Connecticut Public Radio on the status of their filing of an appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

This story is part of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by Connecticut Public Radio.