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A Texas bankruptcy judge ruled that The Onion's bid for Alex Jones's Infowars cannot go forward.
Last month, after the purchase was announced, Judge Christopher Lopez of the Southern District of Texas' US Bankruptcy Court voiced discomfort about the auction for the site, including the fact that offers weren't shared between rival bidders.
"Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction," Lopez said at the time, after designated backup bidder First American United Companies — a company affiliated with Jones's supplement business — requested a hearing.
After the sale was put on hold, Lopez heard testimony at a hearing Monday. He ruled on Tuesday night that while all parties acted in good faith, the closed auction for Infowars did not bring the highest possible bids for the website.
"I don't really care who wins," Lopez said.
A lower purchase price for Infowars means less money to Jones' creditors, including families from Sandy Hook, Connecticut, who won a significant defamation lawsuit against him.
The process "simply did not maximize value in any way, based upon the record before me," Lopez said during his judgment on Tuesday.
He later added, "It's clear the trustee left a lot of money on the table, or the potential for a lot of money on the table."
The Onion initially prevailed at auction despite the fact that its cash bid was less than First American United Companies' bid $3.5 million for Infowars.
However, as part of The Onion's bid — which it tendered in partnership with some Sandy Hook families — the families opted to give up their profits from the sale to make money on the reimagined website under The Onion, according to Reuters. This made it a better offer than First American United's in the eyes of bankruptcy trustee Christopher Murray because it would mean more money for Jones's other creditors.
The judge sent the sale process back to Murray. "I'm not asking for your answers today," he told Murray.
Leila Brillson, The Onion's chief marketing officer, said in a statement after the ruling that the company will continue trying to buy Infowars.
"We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognized The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder," Brillson said.
Jones was forced to liquidate his assets after losing a roughly $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School for repeatedly claiming the mass shooting was a government hoax.
Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, said in a statement that the group is disappointed by the judge's verdict.
"These families, who have already persevered through countless delays and roadblocks, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt businesses accountable for the harm he has caused," Mattei said.
As the Jones-affiliated company contested the auction, Elon Musk's X also became a part of Monday's proceedings, with lawyers for the social network asking the judge to block the transfer of Jones's and Infowars' X accounts to The Onion, arguing they were owned by X, according to Bloomberg.
The Onion CEO Ben Collins previously said he intended to turn Infowars into an "alt-media" parody hub.
