By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-15 07:25:03 | Updated at 2024-11-27 16:55:39
1 week ago
A Texas judge pressed the pause button on The Onion's winning bid for Alex Jones' Infowars network over questions about the bidding process and what the provocateur calls a 'rigged, fake auction.'
The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022.
But Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran 'a fair and full process.'
'I personally don't care who wins the auction, I care about process and transparency,' the judge said, adding that 'nobody should feel comfortable' about what happened. No date has been set for the hearing.
Jones has raged against that very process since the winning bid on behalf of the satirical news site was announced Thursday.
In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official.
'[My lawyers] had a total consensus: they've 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 wasn't an auction.'
'The people didn't even pay real money, they paid some weird FIAT thing that wasn't agreed to by the judge's order and then they had the corporate media say that The Onion bought Infowars.'
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
Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran 'a fair an full process'
He then claims the judge told the trustee that he didn't give the trustee the authority to do that and that it 'wasn't an auction.'
Jones says that the people behind The Onion 'didn't do anything' and called it 'unprecedented,' blaming it on his frequent targets at the 'Deep State.'
'It's crazy. Nobody sees how the federal judge, who's known for being straight-laced, cannot end this fake sale, where he basically said it didn't happen and bare minimum, there'll be a new, open, public auction.'
He then made a promise: 'Everybody thinking Infowars was shut down, you're 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 wouldn't reveal who won and also that they didn't reveal that credit could be used in the auction.
'They bought my company in a rigged, fake auction that didn't even happen with my money that doesn't exist,' he claimed.
In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official
In this December 14, 2012 file photo, parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown
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 he'd 'barely ever even talked to them' and says they've 'raised money off me' and 'had me defaulted' via a show trial produced by HBO.
'These people have jumped the shark and it's 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, it's just another dark day for peoples' rights.'
Indeed, 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.
Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said it will mock 'weird internet personalities' like Jones who spread conspiracy theories
Trustee Christopher Murray admitted that the process seemed unorthodox but it went along with what the victims' families wanted.
'I've never seen this before in any other case, and we did a lot of research, and we've never found it,' he said.
'But I've always thought my goal was to maximize the recovery for unsecured creditors, and under one bid, they're clearly better than they were under the other.'
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.
Infowars will be relaunched in January as a new parody of itself under The Onion umbrella, as reported by The New York Times.
Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said it will mock 'weird internet personalities' like Jones who spread conspiracy theories.
The Onion has declined to disclose how much it paid for Infowars. The purchase includes the Infowars' studio and a diet supplement business.
'The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for,' Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the 2012 shooting in Connecticut, said in a statement provided by his lawyers.
The conspiracy theorist shared on his show Monday that depending on who purchases the company, Infowars may have to shut down
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
Sealed bids for the private auction were opened Wednesday. Both supporters and detractors of Jones had expressed interest in buying Infowars. The other bidders have not been disclosed.
The Onion, a satirical site that manages to persuade people to believe the absurd, bills itself as 'the world’s leading news publication, offering highly acclaimed, universally revered coverage of breaking national, international, and local news events' and says it has 4.3 trillion daily readers.
Jones has been saying on his show that if his detractors bought Infowars, he would move his daily broadcasts and product sales to a new studio, websites and social media accounts that he has already set up. He also said that if his supporters won the bidding, he could stay on the Infowars platforms.
Relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the shooting Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress for repeatedly saying on his show that the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control.
Parents and children of many of the victims testified that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats by his followers.
The lawsuits were filed in Connecticut and Texas. Lawyers for the families in the Connecticut lawsuit said they worked with The Onion to try to acquire Infowars.
