The Onion, a top satirical news site, is at the center of a lot of serious news stories these days.
The headlines stem from The Onion’s role in an ongoing legal battle that arose as it worked to take control of Infowars, a site that’s being sold off as part of Alex Jones’ bankruptcy process.
Jones has to liquidate his personal assets to help satisfy a 2022 ruling saying that he and his company owe around $1.4 billion to relatives of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
The ruling came in defamation cases filed after “Jones repeatedly called the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators a hoax staged by actors and aimed at increasing gun control,” according to The Associated Press.
Infowars auction
The current legal battle about Infowars’ future originated after the site was put up for auction this fall.
In mid-November, The Onion was named the winner of the auction, but the other bidder, a separate business affiliated with Jones called First United American Companies, cried foul.
“Jones and First United American Companies, which runs a website in Jones’ name that sells nutritional supplements and submitted the other bid, are alleging fraud and collusion in the auction,” per The Associated Press.
At first glance, they seem to have a point. First United American Companies bid $3.5 million in the Infowars auction, but The Onion won with a $1.75 million bid.
But that first glance doesn’t include some important additions to The Onion’s offer. “The Onion’s bid also included a pledge by many of the Sandy Hook families to forgo some or all of the auction proceeds due to them to give other creditors a total of $100,000 more than they would receive under other bids,” The Associated Press reported.
In light of that pledge, The Onion said its $1.75 million bid was actually worth $7 million. The trustee overseeing the sale agreed with that assessment and cleared the way for The Onion to acquire Infowars.
Jones and First United American Companies have argued that they weren’t given a fair shake. The ongoing lawsuit over Infowars stems from their claim that The Onion’s bid was improperly valued and that the auction was improperly run.
The trustee overseeing the sale of Infowars, The Onion and Sandy Hook families involved in The Onion’s bid to buy Infowars have defended their actions.
Murray called the allegations “a disappointed bidder’s improper attempt to influence an otherwise fair and open auction process,” according to The Associated Press.
Future of Alex Jones’ Infowars
During a trial this week, Jeff Tanenbaum, president of ThreeSixty Asset Advisors, which oversaw the auction, “testified that he agreed with the $7 million valuation and believed The Onion’s bid conformed to the auction rules,” per The Associated Press.
Murray, the trustee, is expected to take the stand Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, who is in charge of the trial, will ultimately decide whether to allow the sale of Infowars to The Onion, award Infowars to First United American Companies or to call for a new auction, The Associated Press reported.
X, the site formerly known as Twitter, has asked Lopez to further decide whether it has to allow the transfer of Infowars’ X account to The Onion if the sale goes through.
“X’s position (is) that it owns all handles instead of its users,” Bloomberg Law reported.