The auction sale of Alex Jones’ Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet was rejected late Tuesday night by a judge who criticized the bidding process as flawed while questioning the amount of money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting stood to receive.
After a two-day hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston ruled an auction for Infowars did not result in the best bids possible.
However, he rejected Jones’ claims the auction was plagued by “collusion.”
As Breitbart News reported, The Onion had been named the winning bidder on Nov. 14 over a company affiliated with Jones, whose platform was put up for sale as part of his bankruptcy case stemming from the nearly $1.5 billion courts have ordered him to pay over falsely calling one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history a hoax.
The decision not to approve the sale means Jones can stay at his Infowars headquarters in Austin, Texas. The Onion had planned to kick Jones out and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody.
“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, posted on social media late Tuesday as reported by AP. The outlet further notes:
Lopez cited problems — but no wrongdoing — with the auction process. He said he did not want another auction and left it up to the trustee who oversaw the auction to determine the next steps.
The Onion offered $1.75 million in cash and other incentives for Infowars’ assets in the auction. First United American Companies, which runs a website in Jones’ name that sells nutritional supplements, bid $3.5 million.
The bids were a fraction of the money Jones has been ordered to pay in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Lopez said the auction outcome “left a lot of money on the table” for families.
“You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them,” Lopez said.
Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families who sued Jones in Connecticut, said they were disappointed in the judge’s ruling.
“These families, who have already persevered through countless delays and roadblocks, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt businesses accountable for the harm he has caused,” Mattei said in a statement. “This decision doesn’t change the fact that, soon, Alex Jones will begin to pay his debt to these families and he will continue doing so for as long as it takes.”
Twenty young children and six school staff were killed in the attack.
After the killings, Jones and guests questioned whether the massacre actually occurred, floating conspiracy theories about whether the murders were faked or carried out by government agents.
Jones, who did not attend the proceedings, quickly went back on the air to applaud the judge’s decision.
“We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing with the most ridiculous, fraudulent auction known in human history,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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