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Jury Delivers Harsh Message To Alex Jones; Focus Turns To Sorting Out Finances - YouTube
Channel: MSNBC
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all right what i'm about to show you was
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the response from the far-right
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conspiracy theory pushing media
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personality alex jones last night when
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he found out that he and his company
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owed 4.1 million dollars in damages for
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the impact of the conspiracy theory that
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he pushed that sandy hook was somehow
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faked
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we are
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so
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broke
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that i'm not even worried about that 4.2
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million dollars
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i'm worried about our bankruptcy to
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emergency stabilized infowars and we
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have a plan but to do that we need
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support so get a t-shirt get a book get
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a film get my new book the great reset
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and the war for the world get alex's war
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get bodies ultimate turmeric formula get
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vital mineral fusion get them all at
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infowarsstore.com and keep us on the air
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that was last night alex jones
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effectively fundraising off the 4.1
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million dollar ruling against him and
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his company claiming he's broke that the
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company's bankrupt saying he needs you
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to buy his diet pills and his t-shirts
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or he's going to go under
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for nearly a decade alex jones pushed a
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conspiracy theory that the 2012 sandy
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hook massacre was fake
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26 people died 20 of them first graders
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i was there hours after the massacre i
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can tell you personally it was
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incredibly real i saw parents before
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and after they learned of the murder of
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their children
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that 4.1 million dollars last night was
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part of the damages jones is now facing
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for pushing such a disgusting lie and
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tonight alex jones tab
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got even higher
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that same jury in texas handed jones
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another 45.2
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million dollar penalty
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yesterday's ruling was on compensatory
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damages how much cash jones owes to the
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parents of a sandy hook victim for the
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psychological torment and harassment
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that the conspiracy theory he pushed
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caused them
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today's ruling was punitive
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so how much money jones owes those same
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parents as punishment for spreading that
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conspiracy and jones tab here is
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cumulative so all in all that means
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about 49 million dollars total
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now as much as it would be nice to
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bookend this to say the ruling is going
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to definitely teach mr jones his lesson
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and there's no way jones and his
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companies could pay the 49 million bucks
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it's more complicated than that
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first of all if there's one thing we've
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learned watching this trial it is that
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alex jones lies a lot
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so while his tv network infowars has
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become essentially a fundraising
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marathon asking viewers to send them
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cryptocurrency or sign up for monthly
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payments or buy their fluoride free
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toothpaste
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we actually don't have a transparent
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picture of jones or his business
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finances other than taking their word
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for it we've got no way of knowing if
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that company is actually broke
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the other complicating factor is that
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there is a texas law that caps punitive
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judgments so it isn't exactly clear if
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that big 49 million dollar judgment will
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actually be the amount taken out of
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jones's bank account
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but that big dollar amount still does
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send a message it sends a message to
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alex jones and do people like alex jones
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across the country who push dangerous
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conspiracy theories for profit
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that they can and will be held
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accountable
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and this is just the first of three
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damages cases about sandy hook that alex
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jones is facing so whether or not he's
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actually broke now he might be soon
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joining us now is anna merlin senior
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staff writer advice who's been following
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this trial incredibly closely anna thank
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you so much for joining us tonight let's
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first talk about this this cap the 44.2
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million dollars in punitive damages is
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eye-popping especially on top of
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yesterday's 4.1 million dollars in
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compensatory damages but there's a texas
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state law that caps punitive damages at
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twice what the compensatory damages were
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plus seven hundred and fifty thousand
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dollars so is alex jones gonna owe 48
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million dollars or nine million dollars
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after that cap is taken into account how
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do they figure that out
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right this is the big topic of
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discussion today uh it's very likely
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that this case is going to go to the
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texas supreme court uh this is what the
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plaintiff's attorneys said this
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afternoon when the ruling was completed
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and it's certainly i think also what
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alex jones and his lawyers are expecting
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they have already objected to the filing
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of the judgment um so at this point it
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is anybody's guess how much alex jones
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and infowars and infowars parent company
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free speech systems actually end up
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owing there's another complicating
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factor here too which is that in the
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middle of this trial free speech systems
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also filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy
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protection so there is a real financial
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mess going on right now as far as what
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will actually end up being owed
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and there are two financial messes right
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there's the what is the o as a result of
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these these judgments and the other one
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is as you said his personal wealth and
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his companies and the bankruptcy and the
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judge admonished him uh for talking
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about that because uh filing for
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bankruptcy is not the same as actually
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having banks
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bankruptcy protection do you have some
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sense of of the picture of alex jones's
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wealth in his companies and what it
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looks like
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well we got a very good picture today in
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testimony from a forensic economist who
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testified before the jury went to
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deliberations um so this was all made
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very complicated by the fact that um
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jones and infowars did not provide basic
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financial information
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in these lawsuits that he's facing in
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texas and connecticut which is
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part of what caused him and the company
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to lose those cases by default this is
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why these were damages trials and not
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actual trials to determine culpability
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um so you know that was part of the
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issue but um this forensic economist
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testifying today said that
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what we think is that the company
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probably has a net worth of about 130
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million dollars on the low end and 270
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million dollars in the high end there
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have been points in the company's
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history where alex jones is paying
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himself a salary of about six million
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dollars a year
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uh and this is without taking into
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account all of his income streams so we
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know that infowars makes a lot of money
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from a store that sells supplements
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movies books other products
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but we also know that jones is making
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money off of sites like amazon
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and so it is really difficult to get a
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full
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financial picture of exactly what he has
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and exactly where it is especially with
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uh
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a pretty
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concerted lack of cooperation from the
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company
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does this get better by virtue of the
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fact that this is just the first of
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three damages cases against alex jones
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by family members of sandy hook victims
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what are the other uh what do the other
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two cases look like and can they
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do more or go further than than this one
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has in trying to get to the bottom of of
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alex jones's money and and where it is
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yeah that's a great question and
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unfortunately it's another sort of murky
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question right now so there is another
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case set
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to begin in texas in september that is
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laini posner and veronique de la rosa
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and then um eight other plaintiffs are
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supposed to
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uh be
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you know beginning their trial in
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connecticut also in september but with
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the bankruptcy filing by free speech
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system it's systems it's very unclear
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what's going to happen in those cases
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when they might happen you know jury
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selection was supposed to begin in the
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connecticut case uh recently and it
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obviously did not so i would think that
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if these cases do actually end up in a
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courtroom that will be
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a big focus on the part of these
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attorneys is trying to create some
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transparency about where alex jones's
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money is and to you know really um
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examine these claims that he's made
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repeatedly during the trial in the
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courtroom and on air on info wars that
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he's broke that he's personally
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insolvent that the company is gonna have
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to start laying people off and canceling
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shows you know he's made very specific
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claims that i think will be subject to
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examination anna thanks for your
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explanations we appreciate it anna
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merlin is a senior staff writer at vice
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we appreciate your time tonight
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thank you
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[Music]
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you
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