A Texas judge has blocked The Onion from purchasing Infowars and has ordered a review of the auction process after the trustee was reportedly only able to choose from sealed bids.
"We're all going to an evidentiary hearing and I'm going to figure out exactly what happened. No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction," Judge Christopher Lopez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, said, as reported by the Associated Press.
Lopez said he was concerned about transparency after Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American Companies, -- the only other company who placed a bid -- said the auction decided not to hold a round where potential buyers could outbid each other. First United American Companies is associated with one of the sites that sells Jones' products.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families involved in the settlement with Alex Jones said that some of the families "agreed to forgo a portion of their recovery to increase the overall value of the Onion's bid," as reported by Variety.
For this reason, Christopher Murray, the trustee who oversaw the auction, said at a hearing Thursday that The Onion's bid was chosen, despite not being the highest amount, as reported by AP. How much The Onion paid for Infowars was not shared.
Six families involved in the Sandy Hook shooting were awarded nearly $1.5 billion after they sued Jones for defamation and emotional distress in 2018, leading Jones to file for bankruptcy. The family settled on Jones paying at least $85 million over 10 years.
A date has not been set for the hearing.
