Texas' highest court has signaled it may weigh in on who controls Infowars, the defunct conspiracy-laden website once controlled by Alex Jones. Attorneys have been sparring for years over payment of nearly $1.5 billion in defamation judgments he owes under rulings in Texas and Connecticut. The Supreme Court of Texas has ordered Jones' attorneys, who also represent the company, to respond to arguments filed by the Connecticut families he defamed. Jones called the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 20 children and six educators were killed, a government hoax. The families have asked the court to overrule an appellate court's order to pause collections, arguing it was wrong. The errors in that determination are manifest, and it directly conflicts with this Court's precedent, the text of the rules themselves, and applicable federal law. The Supreme Court of Texas ordered Jones' attorneys to respond by July 6.
The Onion, a satirical media platform, attempted to purchase Infowars last year but was stopped by a federal bankruptcy court. Earlier this year, it attempted to lease the Infowars' online domain, website, trademark and physical assets in a deal that would have kept the near-insolvent company afloat by injecting nearly $1 million and providing some funds to the defamed families.
In April, Jones' attorneys successfully lobbied the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals to stop the takeover, arguing a state District Court had erred in appointing a receiver for the company. The appeals court last year issued a stay on another collection effort against Jones. Neither of those stays has been resolved.