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Texas judge halts The Onion's winning bid for Alex Jones' Infowars network; 'I personally don't care…'
A Texas judge halted The Onion's successful bid for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars network due to concerns regarding the process of bidding.
A Texas judge halted The Onion's successful bid for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars network due to concerns regarding the process of bidding and what the provocateur refers to as a “rigged, fake auction.”
The bid, according to the satirical news outlet, was approved by the families of Sandy Hook Elementary victims who prevailed in a 2022 defamation lawsuit against Jones for $1.4 billion.
However, Judge Christopher M. Lopez declared that the purpose of the meeting was to determine if the auction's organisers conducted “a fair and full process.” He was speaking at a status conference that was conducted in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
The judge stated that “nobody should feel comfortable” about what transpired, adding that “I personally don't care who wins the auction, I care about process and transparency,” according to Daily Mail. The hearing date has not been announced yet.
Also Read: Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
Jones fumes over Judge's decision
Jones has been furious about the exact procedure since the satirical news site's winning bid was revealed on Thursday.
Later, miffed Jones asserted in two videos uploaded on social media that the auction 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,” Jones stated.
“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,” he added.
According to him, the judge informed the trustee that it “wasn't an auction” and that he didn't grant the trustee permission to do so.
Jones went on to target the “Deep State” for the “unprecedented” behavior, claiming that the folks behind The Onion “didn't do anything.”
While stressing that everyone “thinking Infowars” was closed, he asserted, “You're in for a rude awakening.”
Just two hours later, he provided more update on the process from the Infowars studios. “The headlines you see everywhere that The Onion bought Infowars today is not true.”
He expressed his ire at the trustee's refusal to accept the highest bid as well as their refusal to disclose the winner and the possibility of using credit during the auction.
Jones said, “They bought my company in a rigged, fake auction that didn't even happen with my money that doesn't exist.”
He further alleged that the winners of the auction shutdown his radio and TV stations and even “hijacked” his website.
Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in late 2022 after the families triumphed in suits in Connecticut and Texas over his allegations that the school shooting that claimed lives of20 children and six adults was a hoax. This was the reason behind the auction.
In January, Infowars will be relaunched as a new spoof of itself under the name The Onion, according to The New York Times.
