Alex Jones is deposed in Sandy Hook massacre defamation case

April 7 (UPI) -- Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist who runs the InfoWars media company, gave a deposition this week in a defamation case brought by the the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in 2012, his lawyers said Thursday.

Jones sat for the deposition Tuesday and Wednesday, a week after Connecticut Judge Barbara Ellis ordered him to pay $25,000 per weekday that he refused to submit to the interview. She found him in contempt of court March 30 when he failed to show up for depositions scheduled for earlier in the month.

In court documents filed Thursday, Jones' lawyers said their client ultimately paid $75,000 in fines for failing to comply. They asked for the money to be reimbursed and for the contempt order to be lifted now that he's completed the requirements.

Attorneys said Jones missed previous deposition dates because of health issues, though he did leave his home at least once to film an episode of his show.

The court filings said the distributor of Jones' show, Genesis Communications, also wishes to depose him the week of April 11.

A judge ruled in November that Jones was liable for damages for defaming the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Jones accused the victims of being "actors" and called the shooting a "hoax."

Twenty-eight people were killed in the shooting, including 20 first-graders and six educators, and the victims' families had argued that Jones had profited off of spreading the false information about the deaths of their family members, which also resulted in their harassment from his fans.

Jones failed to turn over documents to the court during the proceedings and the judge ruled he was guilty by default.

Jones offered several of the family members $120,000 each to resolve the defamation case against him. The families individually rejected the offer.

Darryl Coote and Simon Druker contributed to this report.