15 November 2024

AIN'T HAPPENING: 'Everybody thinking Infowars was shut down, you're in for a rude awakening.' . . . Judge halts Infowars' sale to The Onion in shock move

A Texas judge pressed the pause button on The Onion's winning bid for Alex Jones' Infowars network over questions about the bidding process and what the provocateur calls a 'rigged, fake auction.' 

The satirical news publication said the bid was sanctioned by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Jones in 2022. 

  • But Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran 'a fair and full process.'
'I personally don't care who wins the auction, I care about process and transparency,' the judge said, adding that 'nobody should feel comfortable' about what happened. No date has been set for the hearing.
Jones has raged against that very process since the winning bid on behalf of the satirical news site was announced Thursday
In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official.

'[My lawyers] had a total consensus: they've never seen anything like it. This was a private, secret sale... basically illegal, this is bankruptcy crime on its face disguised as an auction that wasn't an auction.'

'The people didn't even pay real money, they paid some weird FIAT thing that wasn't agreed to by the judge's order and then they had the corporate media say that The Onion bought Infowars.'

Alex Jones angrily denied that his Infowars had been sold to The Onion after what he called a 'rigged, fake auction' and a judge requested a hearing about the bidding process

Alex Jones angrily denied that his Infowars had been sold to The Onion after what he called a 'rigged, fake auction' and a judge requested a hearing about the bidding process

Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran 'a fair an full process'

Judge Christopher M. Lopez announced during a status conference in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the meeting would be held to discuss whether the people running the auction ran 'a fair an full process'

He then made a promise: 'Everybody thinking Infowars was shut down, you're in for a rude awakening.'

Two hours later, he gave a further update on the process from the Infowars studios.

'The headlines you see everywhere that The Onion bought Infowars today is not true.'

He professed his anger with not just the trustee not accepting the highest bid but that they wouldn't reveal who won and also that they didn't reveal that credit could be used in the auction.

'They bought my company in a rigged, fake auction that didn't even happen with my money that doesn't exist,' he claimed. 

In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official

In two videos posted later that evening, a furious Jones claimed that the sale is not yet official

In this December 14, 2012 file photo, parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown

In this December 14, 2012 file photo, parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown

He claimed that there are 'good guys' trying to buy Infowars - First United American Companies LLC which operates ShopAlexJones.com - and that their lawyers have 'never seen' anything like this. 

Jones then accused the auction winners of having 'hijacked' his website and shut down his TV and radio stations.

He eventually went off on the Sandy Hook families, saying he'd 'barely ever even talked to them' and says they've 'raised money off me' and 'had me defaulted' via a show trial produced by HBO. 

'These people have jumped the shark and it's why there was a referendum against the left and lawfare, why Trump got elected in a landslide, despite all the fraud.'

He also complained that 'outside some of the law sites' no one was covering this aspect of the story. 

'If the judge certifies this, it's just another dark day for peoples' rights.'  

Indeed, Judge Lopez appeared to have legitimate concerns with how the auction was run.

'Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction,' Lopez said, according to Bloomberg

Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said it will mock 'weird internet personalities' like Jones who spread conspiracy theories

Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said it will mock 'weird internet personalities' like Jones who spread conspiracy theories

The Onion CEO speaks out after buying infoWars
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Trustee Christopher Murray admitted that the process seemed unorthodox but it went along with what the victims' families wanted. 

'I've never seen this before in any other case, and we did a lot of research, and we've never found it,' he said. 

'But I've always thought my goal was to maximize the recovery for unsecured creditors, and under one bid, they're clearly better than they were under the other.'

The auction stemmed from Jones' personal bankruptcy case, which he filed in late 2022 after the families won lawsuits in Connecticut and Texas over his claims that the school shooting that killed 20 children and six adults was a hoax.

Infowars will be relaunched in January as a new parody of itself under The Onion umbrella, as reported by The New York Times

Ben Collins, the chief executive of The Onion's parent company, Global Tetrahedron, said it will mock 'weird internet personalities' like Jones who spread conspiracy theories. 

The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars with help from Sandy Hook families | AP  News
The Onion Wins Auction for Infowars in Alex Jones Bankruptcy (1)
The Onion Buys Infowars in Bankruptcy Auction
8 hours ago — But the judge in Jones' bankruptcy case said Thursday that he had concerns about how the auction was conducted and ordered a hearing for next ...
2 hours ago — A Texas judge put a pause on The Onion's winning bid for Alex JonesInfowars network over questions about the bidding process and what the ...

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