Losers associated with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Monday disputed the Onion's acquisition of Jones' Infowars website, saying the humor site won a fraudulent bankruptcy auction and offered half the bid in cash.
First American United Companies, which is affiliated with Mr. Jones' nutritional supplement business, has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston to disqualify a bid by the parody news site The Onion and replace its own $3.5 million bid. The successful bidder was requested to list it.
Mr. Jones has been forced to pay $1.5 billion to the families of 20 students and six teachers killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 after a court ordered him to pay $1.5 billion to the families of 20 students and six teachers killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The assets were put up for bankruptcy auction. He falsely claimed that the shooting was staged.
First American United Companies said in a court filing that a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee improperly handled an auction that awarded Onion Inc. support from families of Sandy Hook shooting victims. , said the lawsuit would force Jones into bankruptcy in 2022.
“The effect is to constrain and lower the amount that Onion would need to bid in cash to ensure a successful bid,” First American United Companies said in its complaint. “This was not just cooperation, it was complete collusion.”
According to the appeal, Onion's winning bid for Infowars included $1.75 million in cash.
Christopher Murray, the bankruptcy trustee charged with selling Mr. Jones' assets, said in a court statement Monday that First United American Companies' objections were “an attempt to influence a fair and public auction process.” “We are disappointed in the bidder's inappropriate efforts to do so.” Murray said the team will not be bullied into accepting a “lesser bid.”
The Onion's bid was valued at $7 million, Murray said, largely because the majority of the Sandy Hook family had no interest in their future from the new Infowars in exchange for receiving an upfront payment on the sale. This is because he agreed to receive a portion of his income.
The Onion did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for some of the Sandy Hook families declined to comment.
The Onion announced Thursday that it had won a bankruptcy auction for Infowars' assets, promising to replace the website's “relentless barrage of misinformation” with The Onion's “clearly less hateful disinformation.” .
Lopez, who oversees bankruptcy law, said during a court hearing Thursday that he had concerns about the transparency of the auction. The judge said he would schedule further hearings to gather more information and consider whether to approve the sale.
Infowars briefly shut down after the sale was announced, but was back online within a day. Christopher Murray, the bankruptcy trustee charged with selling Mr. Jones' assets, said at Thursday's hearing that he had to close the business to ensure the assets were not damaged or removed before they were transferred to the Onion. He said it was closed.
If the sale is approved, Onion would acquire Infowars' intellectual property, including its website, customer list and inventory, certain social media accounts, and production facilities.
Connecticut-based families of Sandy Hook shooting victims seek defamation judgment to boost Onion's bid and prevent other right-wing content creators from continuing to broadcast conspiracy theories on Infowars He said he agreed to waive part of the payment.
Jones has long maintained that the massacre was a hoax staged by actors as part of a government conspiracy to steal Americans' guns. Jones later admitted that the shooting occurred, but the family sued him for defamation, saying he had made money off of years of lies.
Courts in Connecticut and Texas have ruled that Jones intentionally defamed the family. Mr. Lopez previously ruled that these judgments could not be legally discharged in bankruptcy, meaning that Mr. Jones remained liable for the majority of the judgments even after Infowars was sold. means.
