The trustee overseeing Infowars host Alex Jones' personal bankruptcy case is accusing the far-right conspiracy theorist of trying to shield more than $5 million from creditors, including relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.
Three new lawsuits filed by the trustee on Friday alleging fraudulent asset transfers are the latest developments in Jones' long-running bankruptcy case, which has been pending in federal court in Houston for more than two years. In financial statements filed in bankruptcy court last year, Jones listed his net worth at $8.4 million.
The Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in judgments in 2022 in lawsuits filed in Connecticut and Texas accusing Jones of defamation and emotional distress for saying the school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators was a hoax. Victims' relatives testified in court about being terrorized by Jones' supporters.
Attempts to liquidate Jones' Infowars broadcasting and product-selling platforms and give the proceeds to the families and other creditors have been hindered by a failed auction and legal wrangling. Jones, meanwhile, continues to appeal the Sandy Hook judgments.
Here’s what to know about the status of Jones’ bankruptcy case:
The trustee, Christopher Murray, alleges that Jones tried to shield the money through a complex series of money and property transfers among family members, various trusts and limited liability companies. Other named defendants include Jones' wife, Erika; his father, David Jones; and companies and trusts.
Murray alleges that a trust run by Jones and his father fraudulently transferred nearly $1.5 million to various other Jones-associated entities in the months leading up to the bankruptcy. Jones is also accused of fraudulently transferring $1.5 million to his wife, more than $800,000 in cash and property to his father and trying to hide ownership of two condominiums in Austin, Texas, with a combined value of more than $1.5 million.
Murray is trying to recoup that money and property for creditors.
Jones' bankruptcy lawyers did not return email messages seeking comment.
In an email to The Associated Press, Erika Wulff Jones called the lawsuits “pure harassment.” She said he had already sat for a deposition and turned over all of her bank statements as part of her husband's bankruptcy case.
A lawyer for David Jones did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Jones railed against the new allegations on his show on Saturday. He has repeatedly said Democratic activists and the U.S. Justice Department are behind the Sandy Hook defamation lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings, and claimed they were now “trying to get” to him by suing his father, who he says is seriously ill.
The fraud allegations are similar to those in a lawsuit in a Texas state court filed by Sandy Hook families. Jones also denied those claims. That lawsuit was put on hold because of the bankruptcy.
Jones says the fact that the Sandy Hook families haven’t received any money from him yet should be expected because he is appealing the $1.5 billion in judgments.
Infowars' assets continue to be tied up in the legal processes. Those assets, and some of Jones' personal assets, are being held by Murray for eventual distribution to creditors.
An effort to sell Infowars' assets was derailed when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected the results of a November auction in which The Onion satirical news outlet was named the winning bidder over only one other proposal by a company affiliated with Jones. The Onion had planned to turn the Infowars platforms into parody sites.
Lopez had several concerns about the auction, including a lack of transparency and murky details about the actual value of The Onion's bid and whether it was better than the other offer. The judge rejected holding another auction and said the families could pursue the liquidation of Jones' assets in the state courts where the defamation judgments were awarded.
In a financial statement last year, Infowars' parent company, Free Speech Systems, listed $18 million in assets, including merchandise and studio equipment.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families said they will soon move their effort to sell Infowars’ assets to a Texas state court in Austin, where they expect a receiver to be appointed to take possession of the platform’s possessions and sell them to provide money to creditors. A court schedule has not been set.
“The families we represent are as determined as ever to enforce the jury's verdict, and he will never outrun it,” Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook families in the Connecticut lawsuit, said Tuesday.
Jones' appeals, meanwhile, continue in the courts. He said he plans to appeal the Connecticut lawsuit judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court, after the Connecticut Supreme Court declined to hear his challenge. A lower state appeals court upheld all but $150 million of the original $1.4 billion judgment. The $49 million judgment in the Texas lawsuit is before a state appeals court.
He said in 2022 that he believes the shootings were “100% real.”
Because Infowars' assets are still tied up in the courts, Jones has been allowed to continue broadcasting his shows and hawking merchandise from Infowars' Austin studio.
FILE - Families of Sandy Hook victims sit in the front row as Infowars founder Alex Jones testifies during the Sandy Hook defamation damages trial at Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury, Conn. Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File)
FILE - Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones speaks outside the federal courthouse after a bankruptcy hearing Friday, June 14, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
The latest:
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
