this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2024
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Summary

Alex Jones has sued Sandy Hook families and The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, alleging a conspiracy in their joint $1.75M bid to acquire Infowars during a bankruptcy auction.

Jones claims their bid unfairly appeared more valuable due to the families waiving portions of their payout, benefiting other defamation victims.

The bankruptcy trustee dismissed the allegations as baseless. Sandy Hook families vowed to hold Jones accountable, while the auction process faces judicial scrutiny over transparency.

A hearing is scheduled for November 25. Jones owes over $1B in defamation damages.

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[–] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today -1 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The dude is a giant shit stain and an embarrassment on society.
That said, he might actually have a point with this suit.

If I'm understanding the situation correctly, you have a situation where his website and media platform are up for auction to pay the huge judgment against him.

Ordinarily that would be fairly simple, various interested parties submit bids for whatever is on the block, and whoever bids highest gets it.

But it seems like in this case a significant portion of the 'money' from the 'winning bid' came from families who would receive that money agreeing to forfeit it as part of this particular bid. So the bid was 'we will pay XYZ in cash and defendants ABC will forfeit their claims if we win'. And furthermore, there is a claim of collusion between the winning plaintiffs and the auctioneer. That is of course a huge ethical issue.
One could, without in any way supporting Jones, make the argument that due process is not being followed here and the auctioneer is not maintaining impartiality.

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no love for the guy. But as much as I dislike him and the awful effect he has on our country, the judicial process must stay neutral. That is the difference between a fair trial and a witch hunt. If it truly was the case that the auctioneer was not neutral, and acted with the goal of ensuring Jones did not maintain any control over InfoWars, then he has an excellent chance of winning this lawsuit and at the very least having a new auction process for his media empire.

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