Alex Jones celebrates as judge drops bombshell decision on Infowars controversial sale to The Onion
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones´ Infowars to The Onion, criticizing the bidding process as flawed and saying the largest bidder was not selected.
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones´ Infowars to The Onion, criticizing the bidding process as flawed and saying the largest bidder was not selected.
The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned on November 14 over a company affiliated with Jones by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez´s decision following a lengthy two-day hearing in a Texas courtroom means Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas.
Lopez said the auction outcome left a lot of money on the table for families.
You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them, Lopez said.
Lopez cited problems - but no wrongdoing - with the auction process. He said he did not want another auction and left it up to the trustee who oversaw the auction to determine the next steps.
Jones, who did not attend the proceedings and has claimed they were shambolic ever since the initial awarding, quickly went back on the air to applaud the judges decision.
We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing with the most ridiculous, fraudulent auction known in human history, he said.
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the auction sale of Alex Jones´ Infowars to The Onion , criticizing the bidding process as flawed and saying the largest bidder was not selected. Pictured: Jones celebrating the decision Tuesday night
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez´s decision following a lengthy two-day hearing in a Texas courtroom means Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas
Jones was seen appearing emotional about the decision in a hug with fellow Infowars personality Harrison Smith Tuesday night.
Trustee Christopher Murray had defended The Onion´s bid during the hearing.
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones in Connecticut, said they were disappointed that the judge rejected The Onion´s bid after it was recommended by the trustee as being in the best interest of Jones´ creditors.
These families, who have already persevered through countless delays and roadblocks, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt businesses accountable for the harm he has caused, Mattei said in a statement late Tuesday.
This decision doesn´t change the fact that, soon, Alex Jones will begin to pay his debt to these families and he will continue doing so for as long as it takes.
Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onions parent company, Global Tetrahedron, posted a statement from The Onion just after midnight on Wednesday.
We are deeply disappointed in todays 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.
He added they will not be deterred into their attempts to purchase the site out of a desire to make a better, funnier internet.
Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onions parent company, Global Tetrahedron, posted a statement from The Onion just after midnight on Wednesday
We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognized The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder.
Collins had said it will mock weird internet personalities like Jones who spread conspiracy theories.
The Onion offered $1.75 million in cash and other incentives for Infowars´ assets in the auction. First United American Companies, which runs a website in Jones´ name that sells nutritional supplements, bid $3.5 million.
The bids were a fraction of the nearly $1.5 billion that Jones has been ordered to pay in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, which Jones repeatedly called a hoax.
Jones has raged against that very process since the winning bid on behalf of the satirical news site was announced.
In two videos posted that same evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official.
[My lawyers] had a total consensus: theyve never seen anything like it. This was a private, secret sale... basically illegal, this is bankruptcy crime on its face disguised as an auction that wasnt an auction.
The people didnt even pay real money, they paid some weird FIAT thing that wasnt agreed to by the judges order and then they had the corporate media say that The Onion bought Infowars.
Jones has raged against that very process since the winning bid on behalf of the satirical news site was announced
He then claims the judge told the trustee that he didnt give the trustee the authority to do that and that it wasnt an auction.
Jones says that the people behind The Onion didnt do anything and called it unprecedented, blaming it on his frequent targets at the Deep State.
Its crazy. Nobody sees how the federal judge, whos known for being straight-laced, cannot end this fake sale, where he basically said it didnt happen and bare minimum, therell be a new, open, public auction.
He then made a promise: Everybody thinking Infowars was shut down, youre in for a rude awakening.
Two hours later, he gave a further update on the process from the Infowars studios.
The headlines you see everywhere that The Onion bought Infowars today is not true.
He professed his anger with not just the trustee not accepting the highest bid but that they wouldnt reveal who won and also that they didnt reveal that credit could be used in the auction.
They bought my company in a rigged, fake auction that didnt even happen with my money that doesnt exist, he claimed.
The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned on November 14 over a company affiliated with Jones by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022
He claimed that there are good guys trying to buy Infowars - First United American Companies LLC which operates ShopAlexJones.com - and that their lawyers have never seen anything like this.
Jones then accused the auction winners of having hijacked his website and shut down his TV and radio stations.
He eventually went off on the Sandy Hook families, saying hed barely ever even talked to them and says theyve raised money off me and had me defaulted via a show trial produced by HBO.
These people have jumped the shark and its why there was a referendum against the left and lawfare, why Trump got elected in a landslide, despite all the fraud.
He also complained that outside some of the law sites no one was covering this aspect of the story.
If the judge certifies this, its just another dark day for peoples rights.
Indeed, at the time, Judge Lopez appeared to have legitimate concerns with how the auction was run.
Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction, Lopez said, according to Bloomberg.
Bill Sherlach, husband of Mary, one of the Sandy Hook School shooting victims, speaks after jurors returned a $965 million dollar judgement against Alex Jones in 2022
Although The Onion´s cash offer was lower than that of First United American, it also included a pledge by many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo $750,000 of the auction proceeds due to them and give it to other creditors, providing the other creditors more money than they would receive under First United American´s bid.
The auction stemmed from Jones personal bankruptcy case , which he filed in late 2022 after the families won lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas over his claims that the school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults was a hoax.
Parents and children of many of the victims testified in court that they were traumatized by Jones´ conspiracies and threats from his followers.
Jones has since acknowledged that the Connecticut school shooting happened.
Most of the proceeds from the sale of Infowars, as well as many of Jones´ personal assets, will go to the Sandy Hook families. Some proceeds will go to Jones´ other creditors.
Murray testified that he did not favor either bidder over the other and was not biased.
He also revealed that First United American submitted a revised bid in recent days, but he said he could not accept it because the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit objected.
The Onion valued its bid, with the Sandy Hook families´ offer, at $7 million because that amount was equal to a purchase price that would provide the same amount of money to the other creditors.
Alex Jones angrily denied that his Infowars had been sold to The Onion after what he called a rigged, fake auction and a judge requested a hearing about the bidding process
Up for sale were all the equipment and other assets in the Infowars studio in Austin, as well as the rights to its social media accounts, websites, video archive and product trademarks
In a court filing last month, Murrays lawyers called First United Americans request to disqualify The Onions bid a disappointed bidders improper attempt to influence an otherwise fair and open election process.
Murrays lawyer questioned him Tuesday afternoon, then Jones attorney, Ben Broocks, cross-examined him into the early evening.
Broocks noted that the Sandy Hook lawsuit judgments could be overturned in pending appeals and got Murray to acknowledge that the Sandy Hook families offer in The Onion bid could fall apart if that happens.
Thats because the percentage of the auction proceeds they would be entitled to could drop sharply and they wouldnt get the $750,000 from the sale to give to other creditors.
Broocks also questioned Murray about last-minute changes to the proposed sale to The Onion, with Murray responding that they were the result of different viewpoints on the numbers being settled.
Auctioneer Jeff Tanenbaum on Monday defended both the value of the bid and its selection.
Up for sale were all the equipment and other assets in the Infowars studio in Austin, as well as the rights to its social media accounts, websites, video archive and product trademarks.
Jones uses the studio to broadcast his far-right, conspiracy theory-filled shows on the Infowars website, his account on the social platform X and radio stations. Many of Jones personal assets also are being sold.
He has set up another studio, websites and social media accounts in case The Onion wins approval to buy Infowars and kicks him out. Jones has said he could continue using the Infowars platforms if the auction winner is friendly to him.
Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion in judgments citing free speech rights.
