Bankruptcy judge rejects 'The Onion's' bid for InfoWars

U.S. bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez rejected the bid by the parent company of The Onion to purchase Alex Jones' media group, including the Infowars website, ruling that the auction process was unfair. The ruling notes that Global Tetrahedron's was not the best bid and was proclaimed the winner of the auction due to an error by a receiver.

The judge notes in his ruling that "I don't think it's enough money" so "I'm not going to approve the sale." It is still unclear how the process will continue, since Lopez was against an auction being held in his ruling. The decision will remain in the hands of Christopher Murray, the fideocommissioner who oversaw the process that has been annulled.

Lopez assured that Murray "acted in good faith" in organizing the initial auction, but criticized the lack of transparency in the process. He also noted that the trustee should have given a rival bidder associated with Jones another chance to improve its bid since "You have to scratch and claw and get as much as you can" for Jones' creditors. By failing in this regard, Murray caused the judge to conclude that "the process fell apart."

A second proposal offered twice as much cash

The proposal submitted by Global Tetrahedron included two parts: A $1.75 million cash payment and a non-cash commitment by some of the creditors in the bankruptcy case - families from the Sandy Hook shooting - to forgo the proceeds they would normally receive from the sale. Some of the families partnered with The Onion in their bid. The trustee valued the bid at a total of $7 million.

However, a rival bidder associated with Jones, First United American Cos, offered twice as much, or $3.5 million in cash. This is a limited liability company with ties to Jones' dietary supplement business. This proposal had Jones' own approval.

"I don't even think the $3.5 million is enough"

The lawyer for this proposal, Walter Cicack, asserted that his client should win because "cash is cash" while the second part of the Global Tetrahedron offer consisted of "amorphous currency, not cash."

Lopez said a different process could have made creditors, including the Sandy Hook families, more money. "I don't even think the $3.5 million is enough," he said.

The bids submitted don't come close to covering the almost $1.5 billion fine that the courts ordered Jones to pay for defamation to the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims in 2012 and that led the mogul to file for bankruptcy.