The Gateway Pundit tried to use bankruptcy to end its defamation cases. A judge refused to allow it.
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A bankruptcy judge threw out a case brought by the publisher of the Gateway Pundit on Thursday, opening the door for Georgia poll workers and a Dominion Voting Systems employee to move forward with their libel lawsuits against the company.
The Gateway Pundit, a blog known for publishing conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 2020 election results, filed for bankruptcy in April to stop the lawsuits. Jim Hoft, who admitted that he used company funds to buy a condo and a Porsche Cayenne, proposed using $1.3 million from an insurance policy and revenue from the next three years to settle the lawsuits.
But the judge, who sits in the Southern District of Florida, said that's not what bankruptcy is supposed to be used for. She said Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and Dominion employee Eric Coomer, who were falsely accused by the Gateway Pundit of helping rig the 2020 election, are entitled to move forward with their state-court lawsuits — for now, at least.
"TGP remains both balance sheet and cash flow solvent," Judge Mindy Mora wrote. "There is no present financial distress, no looming foreclosure sale, no prospect of a market crash. There is only the state court litigation in which TGP must defend itself. That's not a basis for bankruptcy relief; it's the justice system in operation."
The Gateway Pundit made about $3 million in each of the last two years, the judge wrote, and "appears on track to match those years" in 2024. But the website's future is less certain, the judge wrote.
"If a court determines that statements in the articles are defamatory, then The Gateway Pundit might choose to adopt a more restrained editorial style," the decision said. "That choice could lead to fewer website views, which would likely soften revenue."
Hoft and his site are two of many people and businesses to face defamation suits over their coverage of the 2020 election. Dominion Voting Systems itself got more than $700 million in a settlement with Fox News. And Freeman and Moss won a $148 million verdict against Rudy Guiliani, and his bankruptcy case was also thrown out earlier this month.
Rachel Strickland, a lawyer for Moss and Freeman, praised the decision and told Business Insider in an email that her clients would keep pursuing Hoft, his brother, and the Gateway Pundit in court.
Hoft and a lawyer for TGP Communications, didn't immediately reply to emails seeking comment on Thursday morning.
