Alex Jones' Infowars files for bankruptcy amid wave of defamation lawsuits

Conservative media outlet Infowars filed for bankruptcy in Texas on Sunday amid mounting legal pressure over comments made by founder and host Alex Jones, with an estimated liability of as much as $10 million.

According to a BBC report, Jones has been sued several times by the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims for defamation and emotional distress after the talk show host repeatedly called the massacre a “false flag” operation planned by “crisis actors.”  

Twenty children and six educators were killed in the deadly 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Jones’ comments – and similar ones made by other InfoWars employees – have led the company to file chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Maryland, citing “financial distress” as court records show the company has $50,000 or less in assets and between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities.

As the filing shows, Jones, InfoWars and other related holding companies have so far spent $10 million on legal feels and costs.

In three separate lawsuits, families of Sandy Hook victims said Jones’ lies enriched InfoWars while leading to their harassment by his followers. So far, courts in Connecticut and Texas have found Jones liable in several defamation casesbrought by Sandy Hook families – though damages have not yet been determined by the courts.

This month, juries were set to start determining how much he owes the families. Although he originally proposed to pay $120,000 to each of the 13 people involved in the suits, they have since rejected his offer.

"The so-called offer is a transparent and desperate attempt by Alex Jones to escape a public reckoning under oath with his deceitful, profit-driven campaign against the plaintiffs and the memory of their loved ones lost at Sandy Hook," the families said in court filings.

In its filing, however, InfoWars said that there is a “substantial likelihood” that once damages in the Texas case are determined, there will be nothing left for the company, which currently has “limited cash on hand.”

InfoWars is also currently a defendant in several other lawsuits, including one involving an article written about the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida and another alleging that Jones diverted some of his assets to companies owned by himself or family members.

Although it remains unclear what effect bankruptcy will have on InfoWars, Jones and his legal representatives are asking the court to consider their application on an emergency basis by April 22.