A bankruptcy judge in Texas rejected the bid of satire site the Onion to acquire the assets of Infowars — the bankrupt outlet of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — saying the auction process lacked clarity and that the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims deserved more money than the Onion’s parent had bid.
Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday evening said the Onion’s winning bid — of $1.75 million in cash — “left a lot of money on the table” for Connecticut families who had won a $1.4 billion judgment in a defamation lawsuit against Jones, the AP reported. “You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them,” Lopez said.
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“I don’t think it’s enough money,” Lopez said ruling on the matter Tuesday evening, as reported by NBC News.
For now, it’s not clear whether the judge will order a new bankruptcy auction process in which the Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, might be able to participate in.
In a statement Chris Mattei, attorney for the Connecticut families, said: “More than two years after earning historic verdicts in Connecticut, we are disappointed the Bankruptcy Court rejected a purchase of Infowars that the court-appointed trustee recommended as being in the best interest of the 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. 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.”
Last month, the Onion gleefully revealed its winning bid for Infowars, which was sued into bankruptcy (as was Jones) after the families of victims in the Sandy Hook mass shooting in Connecticut won a judgment in 2022 against Jones in a defamation suit. Jones had repeatedly lied and posited baseless conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre.
However, Lopez ordered a new hearing to review the auction process, which he previously expressed concerns about.
There was only one other bidder in the initial Infowars auction, First United American Companies, which operates the ShopAlexJones.com website. First United and Jones complained that the trustee overseeing the auction did not comply with Lopez’s instructions in the bankruptcy proceeding, as the bids were submitted under seal.
The trustee who oversaw the auction, Christopher Murray, acknowledged in a Nov. 14 status meeting with the court that the Onion did not have a higher cash bid than First United, which had bid $3.5 million. However, Murray said, the Onion’s deal was selected as the superior offer because the Connecticut families agreed to forgo much of money Jones’ owes them in order to pay other creditors. In a subsequent court filing, Murray said the Onion’s bid was valued at $7 million when factoring in the backing of the Sandy Hook families.
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