Infowars’ Alex Jones greets supporters of President Donald Trump at a rally in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021. This week, Jones was expected to appear in court to challenge his studio and other assets being sold to The Onion. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License PhotoNov. 25 (UPI) — A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Houston was expected to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the requirement to sell media platform Infowars to the satirical media outlet The Onion to help satisfy a multi-media judgment against him.
Jones is expected to argue to Judge Christopher Lopez that First United American Companies, an institution friendly to Jones, should have been awarded Infowars based on its monetary bid that was twice as much as The Onion, $3.5 million compared to $1.75 million.
Trustee Christopher Murray said The Onion, however, had a better bid because the Sandy Hook families’ due money from the sales were willing to forgo a percentage for future revenue from The Onion’s revamped parody Infowars. The Onion said it estimated bid calculated in future earnings is valued at $7 million.
First American United Companies attorney Walter Cicack said there is no guarantee of such future revenues and naming The Onion the bid winner based on such projections amounted to “outright collusive bid rigging,” according to NBC News.
The assets of Jones’ Infowars and his parent company Free Speech Systems were up for sale, including his studio in Austin, Texas, to satisfy a $1.5 billion defamation judgment against him filed by families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
Jones’ video archives, studio equipment, trademarks, websites and social media accounts were all up for grabs. Jones is currently appealing the judgment against him based on his free speech rights.
Jones had peddled the conspiracy theory that the shooting never happened and was a fabrication made up by anti-gun activists. He eventually acknowledged in civil court that the shooting did happen.
