Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones spent more than $93,000 on himself in the month of July, despite owing $1.5bn to families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook mass shooting.
Jones was found guilty in October 2022 of defaming the families after suggesting the shooting was a hoax and accusing the families of being actors.
Since that ruling, Jones has not been paying the families, but spending huge amounts on household expenses, according to the Associated Press.
Jones pays his wife, Erika Wulff Jones, $15,000 a month, and defended the cost as a requirement under his prenuptial agreement, according to his bankruptcy documents. Some of the lawyers representing the victims' families have called the payments "fraudulent transfers."
In addition to the payments he's making to his wife, Jones also spent $7,900 on housekeeping, and more than $6,300 for meals and entertaining. Neither of those numbers include the cost of his groceries.
He still has a second home in Texas, which requires $6,700 per month for taxes and upkeep, and pays another $5,600 per month to insure and maintain his vehicles and boats.
Mr Jones spent $93,000 in July alone — the US's median, after-tax income is $64,240 per year — but hasn't made a dent in the money he owes the Sandy Hook families.
While the conspiracy theorist was busy making money — and lots of it, apparently — by selling lies about Sandy Hook, some of his followers took it upon themselves to harass and threaten the families who lost children in the shooting.
Relatives of the Sandy Hook victims told the court that Jones’ fans accused them of being “crisis actors” who never had any children.
While Jones was handed down an astronomical penalty by a judge, his company’s bankruptcy case has stalled the families’ attempts to collect.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones spent $93,000 in July, despite owing $1.5bn to Sandy Hook families— (screengrab/InfoWars)
“It is disturbing that Alex Jones continues to spend money on excessive household expenditures and his extravagant lifestyle when that money rightfully belongs to the families he spent years tormenting,” Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer representing the families, said. “The families are increasingly concerned and will continue to contest these matters in court.”
The attorneys representing the families filed on a motion on 29 August that demanded Jones reduce his personal expenses to a "reasonable" spending level. If he does not, the attorneys threatened to seek a judge-appointed trustee to oversee his spending, or to have the court dismiss his bankruptcy case.
Jones addressed the issue on his show, arguing his years of peddling misinformation have earned him the right to enjoy a nice dinner every once in awhile.
“If anything, I like to go to nice restaurants,” Jones said during a taping of his show, just before he asked viewers for money. “That is my deal. I like to go on a couple of nice vacations a year, but I think I pretty much have earned that in this fight.”
Jones scoffed at the penalty after it was first handed down to him.
“Ain’t going to be happening,” Jones said during a stream of his show. “Ain’t no money.”
