Three companies affiliated with the far-right broadcaster and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, among them the media outlet Infowars, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to court documents. (NYT)
The documents filed on Sunday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas sought bankruptcy protection for Infowars and Prison Planet, another one of Jones’ right-wing outlets. Jones also sought bankruptcy protection for Infowars Health, the store from which Jones has hawked nutritional supplements and other products. (CNN Business)
Each has estimated liabilities of as much as $10 million, according to court filings. Free Speech Systems LLC, the ultimate parent company of Infowars, which Jones still owns, isn’t part of the bankruptcy filing. (Bloomberg)
Jones has been found liable in two separate cases, one in Texas, where he and Infowars are based—and another in Connecticut where the mass shooting occurred. Damages have not yet been decided in either case, but an initial amount of $725,000 has been paid into a bankruptcy trust managed by two retired judges, court records show, with an expected $2 million to be funded at a later date. (WaPo)
Sandy Hook families in late March rejected Jones’ offer to settle their defamation lawsuit and reopened the case. Jones had offered to pay $120,000 to each of the 13 plaintiffs to settle the case. (Reuters)