on Tuesday rejected an appeal from conspiracy theorist and left in place against him over his description of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a hoax staged by crisis actors.
The Infowars host had argued that a judge was wrong to find him liable for defamation and infliction of emotional distress without holding a trial on the merits of allegations lodged by relatives of victims of , which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, 黑料吃瓜网.
The justices did not comment on their order, which they issued without even asking the families of the Sandy Hook victims to respond to Jones鈥� appeal. An FBI agent who responded to the shooting also sued.
A lawyer who represents Sandy Hook families said the Supreme Court had properly rejected Jones鈥� "latest desperate attempt to avoid accountability for the harm he has caused.鈥�
鈥淲e look forward to enforcing the jury鈥檚 historic verdict and making Jones and Infowars pay for what they have done,鈥� lawyer Christopher Mattei said in a statement.
A lawyer representing Jones in the case didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jones in late 2022, and his lawyers told the justices that the 鈥減laintiffs have no possible hope of collecting鈥� the entire judgment.
He is separately appealing in a similar defamation lawsuit in Texas after he failed to turn over documents sought by the parents of another Sandy Hook victim.
In the 黑料吃瓜网 case, the judge against Jones and his company in late 2021 because of what she called Jones鈥� repeated failure to abide by court rulings and to turn over certain evidence to the Sandy Hook families. The judge convened a jury to determine how much Jones would owe.
The following year, the jury agreed on and the judge later tacked on another $473 million in punitive damages against Jones and Free Speech Systems, Infowars鈥� parent company, which is based in Austin, Texas.
In November, the satirical news outlet was named the winning bidder in an auction to liquidate Infowars鈥� assets to help pay the defamation judgments. But the bankruptcy judge , citing problems with the process and The Onion鈥檚 bid.
The attempt to sell off Infowars鈥� assets has moved to a Texas state court in Austin. Jones is now appealing a recent order from the court that to liquidate the assets. Some of Jones鈥� personal property is also being sold off as part of the bankruptcy case.
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Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.
