A bankruptcy judge will hear Alex Jones' bid to stop the satirical news outlet The Onion from buying Infowars on Monday.
Jones alleges fraud and collusion in the bankruptcy auction in which The Onion was the winning bid.
Jones filed for bankruptcy after he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion to relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
What Will Happen to Infowars?
Lopez's ruling could determine whether The Onion finalizes its bid to acquire Infowars, whether a new auction is ordered, or whether the competing bidder, First United American Companies, is declared the winner.
First United American Companies runs a website in Jones' name that sells nutritional supplements.
At stake is Jones' continued presence in Infowars' Austin, Texas, studio.
If The Onion secures the purchase, it could oust Jones from the platform.
Conversely, a victory for First United American Companies might allow him to maintain his influence at Infowars.
Regardless of the court's decision, Jones appears poised to continue his media endeavors.
He has already established a new studio, accompanying websites, and social media platforms.
His personal account on X (formerly Twitter), boasting 3.3 million followers, was excluded from the initial sale.
However, Judge Lopez is set to rule separately on whether it should be included in Infowars' liquidation process and potentially sold later.
Judge Raised Concerns
Earlier in November, Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston cited concerns about the transparency of the deal.
"We're all going to an evidentiary hearing, and I'm going to figure out exactly what happened," Lopez said at a Thursday court hearing, via The Associated Press. "No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction."
Los Angeles entertainment attorney Tre Lovell said that Lopez may end up blocking The Onion's purchase of Infowars if the judge rules the sale is not in the best interest of Jones, or if the satirical news publisher is merely trying to make a "joke" out of the bidding process.
"Jones has a right that his assets not be sold unreasonably as a fire sale or for an illegitimate purpose, but that the process allows the opportunity for bona fide and fair bidding," Lovell told Newsweek.
"If The Onion's intent is to make a joke of all this and purposefully seek to ruin the asset at the expense of Jones receiving a more fair and reasonable bid, this would be grounds to disallow the sale."
Sandy Hook Victims
The proceeds from Infowars' liquidation are set to go to creditors, including families of the Sandy Hook victims, who successfully sued Jones for defamation after he repeatedly called the 2012 school shooting a hoax.
The satirical publication The Onion submitted a $1.75 million bid in cash for Infowars, along with a pledge from Sandy Hook families to forgo some of their proceeds to benefit other creditors.
This provision would give those creditors an additional $100,000 over what they would receive from competing offers.
First United American Companies submitted a sealed bid of $3.5 million.
Court-appointed trustee Christopher Murray declared The Onion's bid the winner, citing its benefits to creditors.
Murray has denied any allegations of misconduct. Jones, however, has called the auction "rigged" and accused Murray, The Onion, and the Sandy Hook families of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to undermine his interests.
He claims the bid violated auction rules by involving multiple entities and lacking a valid dollar amount.
Jones criticized Murray for canceling an expected live bidding round, instead deciding the outcome based solely on sealed bids.
Jones took his grievances to his Infowars audience.
On his show, broadcast through his website, radio stations, and his X account, he labeled the auction a "fraud."
Last week, he filed a counter lawsuit in bankruptcy court targeting Murray, The Onion's parent company, and the Sandy Hook families.
Murray called the allegations a "desperate attempt" to delay the sale of Infowars in a court filing on Sunday.
He accused Jones, his lawyers and attorneys for First United American Companies of a "vicious smear campaign lobbing patently false accusations."
He also alleges Jones collaborated with First United American Companies to try to buy Infowars.
Lopez's September order on the auction procedures made a live bidding round optional and gave broad authority to Murray to conduct the sale, including the power to reject any bid, no matter how high, that was "contrary to the best interests" of Jones, his company and their creditors.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
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