I haven’t been following this, but the article call it a “defamation trial”. Defamation is a civil matter. Reading the article, you’d think the FBI was the plaintiff.
Because that’s the only way Jones can garner sympathy is to lie about what is happening. If he told the truth, that he is simply being sued by the family members of dead kids that he lied about on the air for profit, he wouldn’t get much sympathy.