A federal judge declined Tuesday night the sale of the Infowars conspiracy platform to satirical news outlet The Onion after Alex Jones claimed a recent bankruptcy auction was rife with illegal collusion.
The Onion was named the winning bidder on Nov. 14 over a company affiliated with Jones. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez’s decision means Jones can stay at Infowars in Austin, Texas. The Onion had planned to oust Jones and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody.
At the end of a lengthy two-day hearing in a Texas courtroom, Lopez blasted the auction process as flawed and said the outcome “left a lot of money on the table.” for the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
“You have to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them,” Lopez said.
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, is offering $3.5 million.
Lopez cited problems, but no misconduct, 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.
Trustee Christopher Murray had defended The Onion’s bid during the hearing.
“Only two people came forward to bid and … one was better than the other,” Murray testified, referring to The Onion. Asked how it was better, he said “a lot.”
While The Onion’s cash offer was less than First United American’s, it also included a promise from many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo $750,000 of the auction proceeds that were due to them and give them to other creditors, giving the other creditors more money than they would have received under First United American’s offer.
Jones did not attend the proceedings and instead broadcast from his studios in Austin.
“I can’t imagine the judge would certify this fraud,” Jones said on his show Tuesday. “I mean it’s mind-boggling the things they did and what they claimed.”
The trustee and The Onion deny the allegations by Jones and the company and accuse them of sour grapes.
The sale of Infowars is part of Jones personal bankruptcy casewhich he presented at the end of 2022 after being ordained to pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Jones repeatedly called the shooting that killed 20 children and six educators a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control. The parents and children of many of the victims testified in court that they were traumatized by Jones’ plots and threats from his followers.
Jones has since acknowledged that the Connecticut school shooting took place.
Most of the proceeds from the sale of Infowars, as well as many of Jones’ personal possessions, will go to the Sandy Hook families. Some proceeds will go to Jones’ other creditors.
Murray testified that he did not favor any of the bidders over the other and that he was not biased.
He also disclosed that First United American submitted a revised offer in recent days, but said it could not accept it because the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit objected.
The Onion valued its offer, 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.
In a court filing last month, Murray’s lawyers called First United American’s request to disqualify The Onion’s bid as an “improper attempt by a disappointed bidder to influence an open and fair election process.” .
Murray’s attorney cross-examined him Tuesday afternoon, then Jones’ attorney, Ben Broocks, cross-examined him in the early evening.
Broocks noted that the judgments in the Sandy Hook lawsuit could be overturned on pending appeals and got Murray to acknowledge that the Sandy Hook families’ bid for The Onion could be undone if this happened That’s because the percentage of the auction proceeds they would be entitled to could drop sharply, and they wouldn’t get the $750,000 from the sale to give to other creditors.
Broocks also questioned Murray about the last-minute changes to the proposed sale to The Onion, to which Murray responded that they were the result of differing views on the numbers being worked out.
Auctioneer Jeff Tanenbaum defended both the bid value and his selection on Monday.
Up for sale were all the equipment and other assets of Infowars’ Austin studio, 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 shows on the Infowars website, his X social platform account and radio stations. Many of Jones’ personal possessions are also being sold.
Jones has created another studio, websites and social media accounts in case The Onion gets approval to buy Infowars and oust it. Jones has said he might continue to use the Infowars platforms if the winner of the auction is friendly to him.
Jones is appealing the $1.5 billion in lawsuits citing free speech rights.