A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday rejected an offer from The Onion’s parent company to buy Alex Jones’ far-right media empire, including the website Infowars, ruling that the auction process was unfair.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said after a two-day hearing that The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, did not make the best offer and was wrongly named the winner of an auction last month by a court-appointed trustee.

“I don’t think it’s enough money,” Lopez said in a late-night sentencing hearing in a Houston court. “I will not agree to the sale.”

It was not immediately clear whether there would be a new auction where The Onion could bid again for Jones’ assets. Lopez said he would leave the decision about what to do next to trustee Christopher Murray, who oversaw the auction.

The judge said Murray acted in good faith in conducting the auction, in which The Onion’s parent company initially appeared to have the upper hand, but he said the trustee failed to conduct a transparent process and gave one to a bidder linked to Jones should be given another chance to improve its quality.

“I think you have to go out there and try to get every dollar,” Lopez said. “I think the process has failed.”

The ruling scuppered, at least for now, Global Tetrahedron’s plans to take over Infowars and radically shift its content from anti-government conspiracy theories to satirical humor. Instead, Jones can continue running his far-right media business as he has for decades.

Jones went live from a studio shortly after the verdict and told viewers: “We can celebrate the judge who did the right thing.” He had previously called the sale process an “auction scam” and a “fraudulent sale.”

Onion CEO Ben Collins said in a statement on

“It’s part of our larger mission to create a better and more entertaining Internet, regardless of the outcome of this case,” he said.

“We appreciate that the court has repeatedly recognized that The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner and no clear path forward for a bidder,” Collins continued.

Collins previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News, which often meant covering Jones as well.

The Onion’s parent company teamed up in its bid with the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, who successfully sued Jones for defamation and won judgments now worth $1.2 billion. Part of the company’s plan for Infowars was to make the anti-violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety the exclusive advertiser.

Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, said they were also disappointed.

“These families, who have already endured countless delays and obstacles, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt companies accountable for the harm he has caused,” he said in a statement.

“This decision does not change the fact that Alex Jones will soon begin paying off his debts to these families and will continue to do so for as long as necessary,” Mattei said.

Last month’s announcement that Global Tetrahedron was named the auction winner shocked the media world and fans of Jones and The Onion, but that announcement was only a recommendation from the trustee and required approval from Lopez, who is overseeing Jones’ bankruptcy case .

Global Tetrahedron’s offer had two components: $1.75 million in cash and a cashless commitment from some of the bankruptcy creditors – Sandy Hook families – to forgo the proceeds they would normally receive from the sale . Some of the families worked with The Onion on their offering.

Murray said he valued the offer at $7 million overall.

A rival bidder tied to Jones, First United American Cos., offered $3.5 million in cash, twice as much cash as The Onion’s parent company. First United American is a limited liability company tied to Jones’ nutritional supplements business, and its bid had Jones’ blessing.

In court on Tuesday, Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American, claimed that the second component of the Global Tetrahedron offering consisted of “amorphous, cashless currency.” He said his client’s cash offer should have won.

“Cash is cash!” he said in court.

Lopez said a different process could have brought in more money for creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.

“I don’t even think the $3.5 million is enough,” he said.

At stake is control of numerous assets of Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, including the intellectual property associated with Infowars.com, production equipment such as computers and studio lights, and inventory from Jones’ nutritional supplements business.

Jones’ assets are being sold in bankruptcy because he owes $1.2 billion to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims. Jones repeatedly falsely told his audiences that the shooting was a hoax, and the families successfully sued him for defamation and other allegations.

In his testimony in bankruptcy court in Houston, Murray defended the auction process he used. He said his only goal was to maximize payouts to the unsecured creditors of Jones’ company.

“I conducted an open process. I have not excluded anyone from participating,” he said. When asked by a lawyer if he had any bias as to who should win the auction, he replied, “No, no bias.”

The auction process consisted of a request for sealed, written bids. Murray initially considered a live auction, but decided against it. He testified that after realizing that Global Tetrahedron’s offer was higher, he worked with the company and its lawyers to find out details about the creditors giving up their share of the proceeds.

Lopez said in his decision that the exemption itself didn’t bother him, but he said the other bidder should have been informed of it. He also said he was bothered by the ironing out process that followed, which he said involved Murray completing “mental gymnastics.”

“It didn’t even feel like they understood what they understood when they talked about the trustee and the auctioneer,” he said.

Jason Goldstein, an attorney for The Onion’s parent company, said in court that the delay after the auction concluded was costly.

“This delay entails significant additional costs for my clients,” he said before the verdict. “You are still stuck here today, without determination or clarity.”