Attorneys for X Corp., the firm established by Elon Musk to take over Twitter, filed a notice of appearance on Thursday in the bankruptcy case of Alex Jones and his Infowars platform.
The new owners of satirical news site The Onion had been declared the successful bidders for Jones’ controversial platform, alongside families of the Sandy Hook massacre victims.
But this week, the Texas bankruptcy judge overhearing the case voiced concerns about the transparency of the auction process and called for a new hearing to discuss those potential issues.
“Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction,” Judge Christopher M. Lopez said, according to a Bloomberg News report.
The X Corp. filing, dated Nov. 14 and first reported by Mother Jones, does not disclose the purpose of X’s appearance, other than to state the rights reserved to it as an interested party, and to request all relevant documents in the case.
Attorneys for X listed in the filing did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer representing The Onion also did not respond to a request for comment.
Both Musk and Jones are known allies of President-elect Donald Trump. Musk has allowed Infowars to broadcast on X while Infowars’ fate is in limbo.
Jones has used Infowars as a platform to promote conspiracy theories, far-right ideologies and misinformation. He often focuses on events and social issues to sell related products like supplements and survival gear.
Jones’ bankruptcy stems from his obligation to pay $1.5 billion in damages to families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who filed defamation lawsuits over his false claims that the massacre was a hoax. He broadcast the conspiracy theory on his platform, which led to years of harassment and threats against the grieving families.
In a statement on X, The Onion’s chief executive, Ben Collins — who previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News — called assertions made this week by Jones and other Infowars personnel that the auction had formally been “overturned” false, while describing other allegations they leveled as “wacky.”
“We look forward to completing this process at the next scheduled court date,” Collins wrote Saturday.
A representative for Infowars did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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