The lawyer for Alex Jones, who inadvertently gave his client’s text messages to the lawyers for Sandy Hook families, has had his law license suspended.
“At a basic level, attorneys must competently and appropriately handle the discovery of sensitive materials in civil cases,” Judge Barbara Bellis wrote in a court order that suspended attorney Norman Pattis’ license for six months. “Otherwise, our civil system, in which discovery of sensitive information is customary and routine, would simply collapse.”
Bellis said she “flatly rejected” Pattis’ assertion that his release of the confidential records was an “inadvertent mistake,” writing that Pattis “failed to provide even the minimal amount of attention and care required when it came to handling the plaintiffs’ sensitive discovery materials.”
The leak also included the medical records of some of the Sandy Hook plaintiffs and other sensitive materials. Jones’s text messages blew up his defense and were a contributing factor in judgment against the right-wing conspiracy theorist.
The texts showed that Jones was lying about his financial situation, and have drawn the interest of 1/6 investigators because Jones has claimed to have had a role in planning the attack and coordinating with the Trump White House.
The problems from his lawyer’s leak could be getting bigger for Alex Jones.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association