Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks to the media after arriving at the federal courthouse for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy judge, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Houston. (David J. Phillip/AP)
(Tribune News Service) — A federal judge in Texas has blocked The Onion’s winning bid for Alex Jones’ Infowars empire.
After two days of testimony in Houston, Judge Christopher Lopez on Tuesday expressed concern over what he declared a lack of transparency surrounding the auction of Jones’ assets. That means Jones will hold onto his Austin-based Infowars, foiling, at least for now, the Onion’s plans to relaunch the right-wing platform — known for parroting conspiracy theories — as a parody page next month.
“We are deeply disappointed in today’s decision, but The Onion will continue to seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families receive a positive outcome for the horror they endured,” Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, posted on social media late Tuesday.
The decision comes just less a month after the the satire-slinging website won Jones’ company during a bankruptcy auction with backing from family members of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting victims, to whom Jones owes millions. Within hours, though, Lopez, who is overseeing the Chapter 7 liquidation of Infowars and the rest of Jones’ assets, temporarily halted its transfer.
The issues specifically stemmed from the bidding process that allowed The Onion to emerge as auction victor.
InfoWars founder Alex Jones. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)Lawyers for both Jones and First United American — the only other Infowars bidder — pointed to changes they claimed were made just days before the auction. They said Christopher Murray, the trustee who oversaw the proceedings, decided against giving the competing parties an opportunity to outbid each other, and, instead, made his ruling based on sealed bids.
It was later revealed that The Onion did not have a higher cash bid than First United — which said it bid $3.5 million. Murray has since said he felt The Onion’s deal was superior because some of the Sandy Hook families agreed to forgo a portion of the sale proceeds to pay Jones’ other creditors.
Lopez on Tuesday said he said he did not believe those involved in the auction acted in bad faith and that everyone “put their best foot forward and tried to play within the rules.” The judge added that the process “while well intended, simply did not maximize value in any way based upon the record before me.”
The lot in contention includes ownership of Infowars in addition to its website, trademarks, video archive, certain social media accounts, a studio in Austin, Texas and “production equipment used to put Jones on the air.”
Jones for years used his internet and radio shows to claim the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax perpetrated by crisis actors, working to push for fiercer gun control laws. His claims prompted a defamation lawsuit filed by families of those impacted by the massacre, during which 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn. were shot and killed.
The internet personality was ultimately ordered to pay a staggering $1.44 billion, forcing him to declare bankruptcy. Jones — who has also claimed the Sept. 11 terror attack was an inside job and the 2020 presidential election was rigged — has also since acknowledged the shooting did actually happen.
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