Alex Jones retains Infowars for now after judge denies The Onion's winning auction bid
FILE-Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones appears for a bankruptcy hearing Friday, June 14, 2024 at Bob Casey Federal Courthouse in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Alex Jones is holding on to Infowars for the moment after a federal judge rejected the auction sale of his conspiracy theory platform to The Onion satirical news outlet.
The judge criticized the bidding for Infowars as flawed as well as the amount of money families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting were going to receive, the Associated Press reported.
After a two-day hearing in Houston, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez did not approve the sale and cited worries about transparency in the auction.
RELATED: Alex Jones’ personal assets to be sold to help pay Sandy Hook debt as judge decides Infowars’ fate
The Onion planned to remove Jones and relaunch Infowars in January as a parody. Families of the Sandy Hook victims supported The Onion’s auction bid.
According to the AP, 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.
RELATED: Infowars host Alex Jones files for personal bankruptcy
These auction bids were a portion of the money that Jones has been ordered to pay in defamation lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas filed by relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting.
Tuesday’s decision by Lopez is a win for Jones, whose Infowars website was put up for sale as part of his bankruptcy case amid the almost $1.5 billion that courts ordered Jones to pay for his false claims about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.
What's up for sale in the Infowars auction?
The equipment and other assets in the Infowars studio in Austin, Texas, and the rights to its social media accounts, websites, video archive and product trademarks were all up for sale in the auction.
Alex Jones uses the studio to broadcast his far-right, conspiracy theory-filled shows on the Infowars website, his account on the social platform X and radio stations. Many of Jones' personal assets are also being sold.
The Associated Press reported that Jones set up another studio, websites, and social media accounts in case The Onion wins approval to buy Infowars and removes him. Jones tells the AP he could continue using the Infowars platforms if the auction winner is friendly to him.
Jones repeatedly called the school shooting that killed 20 children and six educators a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control.
The AP reported that parents and children of many of the victims testified in court that they were traumatized by Jones’ conspiracies and threats from his supporters. Jones has since acknowledged that the Connecticut school shooting happened.