Judge rules Alex Jones' Infowars to be sold once again, paving way for The Onion to renew its bid

Independent

2 days ago

Months after conspiracy theorist Alex Jones mocked The Onion after the satirical news outlet's proposed purchase Jones' Infowars was rejected by a federal bankruptcy court, a state judge ruled this week that the far-right platform can once again be sold – clearing the way for The Onion to resurrect its bid.
In a Wednesday hearing in Texas district court, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ordered the assets of Infowars' parent company Free Speech systems to be handed over to a court-appointed receiver, who will then start the process of selling them off in order to pay the roughly $1.3 billion that Jones owes the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
The families, who have spent nearly three years attempting to collect on the judgment in federal bankruptcy court, were awarded the damages over Jones' repeated false and baseless claims that the Sandy Hook shooting was a 'hoax' and that the children killed were crisis actors.
Last year, The Onion – backed by the Sandy Hook families – had won a court-ordered auction to purchase Infowars, with plans to turn the far-right conspiracy outlet into a parody site that would mock the conservative media ecosphere. Additionally, The Onion said that it planned on entering into an advertising agreement with gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
That sale was blocked in December, however, after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the acquisition was flawed and that he would not approve the sale, citing issues regarding the transparency of the process. That allowed Jones to keep Infowars for the time being – and he celebrated on-air by using music from Star Wars to mock The Onion.fee
'We are deeply disappointed in today's 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,' Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion's parent company Global Tetrahedron, said after the December ruling.
A giddy Jones, meanwhile, read Collins' statement on his show at the time alongside the 'Imperial March' from The Empire Strikes Back. 'I told you guys. We weren't going down,' Jones boasted.
While halting the sale to The Onion, the federal bankruptcy judge suggested to the Sandy Hook families that they should go take their case to state court to get what they're owed from Jones, of which he has yet to pay a dime. And now, according to Gamble's ruling, it appears that Jones could soon be locked out of the Infowars studios.
According to Wednesday's order, the receiver has the power 'to collect all accounts receivable… change the locks to all premises at which any property is situated… access all storage facilities, safe-deposit boxes, [and] real property… and exercise control over any website [of Jones].' Additionally, the receiver can turn to local law enforcement for help 'carrying out his duties and exercising his powers.'
Unsurprisingly, Jones was not happy about the ruling. 'I'm pretty p*ssed off and wound up,' he grumbled on Wednesday's broadcast, telling his viewers: 'This fight is your fight.'
Attorneys for the families, meanwhile, said that the judge's order was a 'critically important step closer to achieving the goal' of 'holding Alex Jones accountable for years of harm,' specifically noting that it could finally lead to Infowars shuttering for good.
'The receiver is now authorized to liquidate his business assets, and we look forward to the corrupt media empire that Jones built finally being dismantled,' attorney Chris Mattei, who represents the Connecticut-based families, told NPR.
'The families are pleased that the court has placed InfoWars parent company into receivership, which will finally lead to accountability for Alex Jones' monstrously cruel harassment," Mark Bankston, another lawyer for the families, stated.
As for the likelihood that The Onion can finally complete its purchase of Infowars now that it's in a receivership, legal experts said that it may not be a 'panacea' but the conditions are now more 'favorable' for a sale.
'From a creditor's point of view, you're most often better off under state law … because the state court may be able to operate with greater speed and flexibility…[and fewer] constraints than the bankruptcy judge has to deal with,' Larry Ponoroff, dean and professor emeritus at Tulane Law School, told NPR.
Reached for comment, Collins told The Independent that while he wasn't at liberty to fully discuss the situation right now, he could say that 'we're working on it.'
Throughout this entire process, Jones has also insisted that even if the Infowars brand and property are taken from him, he will continue to stay on the air by stating another company. Still, because a bankruptcy judge ruled his behavior 'willful and malicious,' the families could continue to make claims on any money Jones makes in the future through other business ventures.
In June, Jones was accused by the trustee overseeing his personal bankruptcy of trying to shield assets of more than $5 million to avoid paying on the Sandy Hook judgment. This included allegations that Jones fraudulently transferred $1.5 million to his wife, $800,000 to his father and attempted to hide his ownership of two condominiums with a combined value of $1.5 million.