Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones sues Jan. 6 committee, plans to plead the Fifth
"Pro-Trump broadcaster and conspiracy theorist" Alex Jones is suing the Jan. 6 select committee in an attempt at blocking congressional investigators from "obtaining his phone records and compelling his testimony at a deposition next month," Politico reports.
Jones says in his suit that he plans to assert his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, and that the committee rejected his offer to provide written answers to their questions. He also said he does not intend to produce any documents because he feels his "journalistic activity" is protected under the First Amendment.
The lawsuit from Jones is just the latest in a bevy of litigation instigated by "targets of the Jan. 6 committee seeking to prevent them from enforcing its subpoenas and obtaining phone records from private carriers," Politico writes. For example, several organizers of the rally preceding the Capitol attack have jointly sued the panel, as has John Eastman, the lawyer who assisted former President Donald Trump in his crusade to overturn the 2020 election results.
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Jones is not accused of any crimes pertaining to the Jan. 6 attack, per Politico.
"Jones has good and substantial reason to fear that the Select Committee may cite him for contempt of Congress if he refuses to answer its questions on grounds of constitutional privilege," reads his lawsuit.
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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
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