The Onion was named the winning bidder for Infowars in a November auction, but Jones and First American United Companies, the Jones-affiliated company, had argued the sale process was tainted because The Onion received too much credit for having the support of families who won court verdicts against Jones.
Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 and was forced to liquidate his assets to pay $1.3bn (R23.2bn) in legal judgments to the families of 20 students and six staff members who were fatally shot in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Courts in Connecticut and Texas have ruled Jones defamed the families by making repeated false claims that the mass shooting was staged as part of a government plot to take guns away from Americans.
The Onion has said it plans to relaunch Infowars in 2025 as a parody site filled with “noticeably less hateful misinformation” than before.
Jones' attorney Ben Broocks told Lopez at a hearing on Monday The Onion put up half as much cash as the $3.5m (R62.5m) offer from First American United Companies, but boosted its bid with “smoke and mirrors” calculations.
The Connecticut-based Sandy Hook families, who are Jones' largest creditors, augmented The Onion's bid by agreeing to forgo some repayment from the Infowars sale so other creditors could receive more money.
Christopher Murray, a court appointee trustee charged with selling Jones' assets, testified on Tuesday that the auction was fair, and First American United Companies only complained about the process after learning its bid was not chosen.
Reuters
The Onion’s purchase of Alex Jones’ Infowars stopped by US judge
Image: REUTERS/Mike Segar
A US bankruptcy judge on Tuesday stopped the parody news site The Onion from buying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars website, ruling a bankruptcy auction did not result in the best possible bids.
US bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez rejected Jones' claims that the auction was plagued by “collusion” at the end of a two-day hearing in Houston, Texas.
However, he said the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee who ran the auction made “a good faith error” by quickly asking for final offers for Infowars instead of encouraging more back-and-forth bidding between The Onion and a company affiliated with Jones' supplement-selling businesses, which was the runner-up.
“This should have been opened back up, and it should have been opened back up for everybody,” Lopez said.
“It's clear the trustee left the potential for a lot of money on the table.”
Lopez said neither of the two offers for Infowars were enough money given the scope of Jones' debts, and told the trustee to work to resolve some of the disputes between the creditors before making a new attempt to sell Infowars.
Musk says conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be reinstated on X after poll
The Onion was named the winning bidder for Infowars in a November auction, but Jones and First American United Companies, the Jones-affiliated company, had argued the sale process was tainted because The Onion received too much credit for having the support of families who won court verdicts against Jones.
Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 and was forced to liquidate his assets to pay $1.3bn (R23.2bn) in legal judgments to the families of 20 students and six staff members who were fatally shot in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
Courts in Connecticut and Texas have ruled Jones defamed the families by making repeated false claims that the mass shooting was staged as part of a government plot to take guns away from Americans.
The Onion has said it plans to relaunch Infowars in 2025 as a parody site filled with “noticeably less hateful misinformation” than before.
Jones' attorney Ben Broocks told Lopez at a hearing on Monday The Onion put up half as much cash as the $3.5m (R62.5m) offer from First American United Companies, but boosted its bid with “smoke and mirrors” calculations.
The Connecticut-based Sandy Hook families, who are Jones' largest creditors, augmented The Onion's bid by agreeing to forgo some repayment from the Infowars sale so other creditors could receive more money.
Christopher Murray, a court appointee trustee charged with selling Jones' assets, testified on Tuesday that the auction was fair, and First American United Companies only complained about the process after learning its bid was not chosen.
Reuters
READ MORE:
Suspect in killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson charged with murder
White House condemns Trump ties to conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer
UK concert bombing survivors sue conspiracy theorist for alleged harassment
White House blasts Musk's 'hideous' anti-Semitic lie, advertisers pause on X
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
News and promos in your inbox
subscribeMost read
Latest Videos