A trustee who oversaw the bankruptcy auction of Alex Jones’ Infowars asked a judge on Tuesday to approve The Onion’s winning bid for the conspiracy-filled platform.
Trustee Christopher Murray appeared for the second day of evidence at a hearing where a judge is scrutinising the satirical news outlet’s winning offer.
He told US bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez in Houston that he was there asking the court to approve the sale of Infowars’ parent company to The Onion’s parent company.
It is not clear how quickly Judge Lopez will rule. The Onion, which wants to turn Infowars’ website and social media accounts into parodies, offered 1.75 million dollars (£1.37 million) in cash and other incentives for Infowars’ assets in a November auction.
Mr Jones did not attend proceedings on Monday or Tuesday. Instead, he broadcast from his studios in Austin.
Lawyers for Mr Jones and a company affiliated with him that put in the only other bid questioned auctioneer Jeff Tanenbaum on Monday about how The Onion’s bid came to be valued at seven million dollars (£5.49 million) and why a live auction was not held. He defended both the value of the bid and its selection after he two sealed offers were opened.
Judge Lopez could ultimately decide whether to void The Onion’s bid, name the Jones-affiliated company the winner or hold another auction, among other possibilities.
Mr Jones and First United American Companies, which runs a website in Mr Jones’ name that sells nutritional supplements and submitted the other bid, allege fraud and collusion in the auction that concluded on November 14.
The trustee and The Onion deny the allegations, accusing Mr Jones and the company of sour grapes. First United American Companies bid 3.5 million dollars (£2.74 million).
If The Onion wins, Mr Jones expects to be kicked out of the Infowars studio and its web and social media platforms.
“I can’t imagine the judge would certify this fraud,” Mr Jones said on his show on Tuesday. “I mean it’s head-spinning the stuff they did and what they claimed.”
The sale of Infowars is part of Mr Jones’ personal bankruptcy case, which he filed in late 2022 after he was ordered to pay nearly 1.5 billion dollars (£1.2 billion) in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Mr Jones repeatedly called the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six teachers a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control. Parents and children of many of the victims testified in court that they were traumatised by Mr Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his followers.
Mr Jones has since acknowledged that the Connecticut school shooting happened.
Most of the proceeds from the sale of Infowars, as well as many of Mr Jones’ personal assets, will go to the Sandy Hook families. Some proceeds will go to Mr Jones’ other creditors.
Although The Onion’s cash offer was lower than that of First United American, it also included a pledge by many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo some or all auction proceeds due to them to give other creditors a total of 100,000 dollars more than they would receive under other bids.
Mr Jones is appealing against the 1.5 billion dollars in judgments citing free speech rights.
