A bankruptcy judge in Texas rejected a bid on Tuesday from The Onion’s parent company to acquire Alex Jones‘ far-right media outlet, Infowars, and its associated assets, citing concerns over the auction process.

Judge rejects Infowars sale

“I’m going to not approve the sale to the purchaser. I think there’s a great lack of clarity here,” Judge Christopher Lopez, a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Texas, said during a Tuesday night ruling, according to CNN.

The two-day hearing was an overview of the sale, in which The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, was named the winning bidder after offering $1.75 million in cash, as well as a “credit” from the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, to acquire Infowars, per CNN.

However, Lopez said the process “while well intended, simply did not maximize value in any way based upon the record before me.”

Judge says the families of Sandy Hook victims deserve more money

As Blavity reported, the private bankruptcy auction took place in November, with The Onion winning full ownership of Infowars and its assets. Lopez said the deal “left a lot of money on the table” for Sandy Hook families who previously won $1.4 billion in a defamation lawsuit against Jones, per CBS News.

“You got to scratch and claw and get everything you can for them,” the judge said Tuesday night of the deal, he said. “I don’t think it’s enough money.”

While the details of a new auction remain unclear, Lopez said he would leave the decision to trustee Christopher Murray, who oversaw the auction. He noted that Murray acted in good faith but said that the trustee needed to have run a transparent process by not allowing a rival bidder associated with Jones the opportunity to revise their offer, per NBC News.

Jones and The Onion CEO speak out

Jones responded to the ruling in a video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, praising the judge for allowing him to keep his outlet, at least for now.

“We can celebrate the judge doing the right thing,” Jones said during a live broadcast from his studio.

After learning that The Onion had initially won the bid, the 50-year-old said in a separate video shared on his X account, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m going to be here until they come and turn the lights off.”

Onion CEO Ben Collins shared a statement on X, stating that while he was “deeply disappointed” in the ruling, the company would “continue to seek a path towards purchasing Infowars in the coming weeks.”

Alex JonesbankruptcyInfowarsThe Onion