On Wednesday, InfoWar — a site known for peddling conspiracy theories and fake news — treated viewers to something very real … footage of Texas Representative Joe Barton masturbating.
The content was swiftly taken down — but not before a Google cache could record the moment for terrible posterity.
Thankfully this was deleted pic.twitter.com/Sf1vjezEws
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) November 24, 2017
Barton, a long-serving Republican, is facing an embarrassing scene after lewd selfies of him were leaked by an anonymous Twitter account. He has since apologized and insisted that the content was shared between him and an older, consenting woman shortly before finalizing his divorce.
“While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women,” said Barton in a statement to the Texas Tribune. “Each was consensual. Those relationships have ended. I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down,” he said.
The post, which was written by InfoWars chief Alex Jones, had over 600 comments at the time it was deleted. Jones credited the illicit video of Barton to Shakespeare in the Park crasher, Laura Loomer.
Loomer told her followers that she had delivered the video of Barton to Jones.
I’ve given video footage of @RepJoeBarton to @infowars.
Let it be known that MORE than just a d**k pic exists. I didn’t want to post the video online until we learn more about the details of his text exchange (it could be consensual) but the vid is now in @RealAlexJones‘s hands.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 22, 2017
Reached for comment as to why he posted and deleted the footage, Jones directed TheWrap to an explanation he offered on his radio show Friday.
“I wanted to show that we had the raw footage without showing it so what we did was covered up 90 percent of the screen, showed the top of his face and said folks it’s not just a photo, this is a video,” Jones said during an interview with Loomer. “I said this was given third party to Laura Loomer.”
The pair then proceeded to speak about their shared view that this was not a case of revenge porn, but was a legitimate news story.
“It’s just shocking to see mainline Republicans try to spin it like we’re Democrats or we’re bad people for covering this,” said Jones. “The photos are out, it’s not just a photo, it’s a video. We have the video. Without even showing his hands, we just show his face looking down.”
“I’m not trying to go after Barton or anybody, I’m simply reporting,” he added.