Alex Jones’ Infowars Parent Wants a New Bankruptcy Lawyer

The owner of Alex Jones’ Infowars says its relationship with its lawyer has become so strained that it needs to swap in someone else to complete its bankruptcy.

Free Speech Systems LLC is prepared to part ways with attorney Ray Battaglia and appoint a new lawyer to steer the company’s Chapter 11 case to a close, chief restructuring officer J. Patrick Magill told the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in a filing Tuesday. Magill said he agreed with Battaglia’s description of the pair’s relationship as “fundamentally broken,” but for different reasons.

The shake-up of legal representation comes amid efforts by Free Speech to advance a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization that would create a trust to partially pay families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who hold $1.5 billion worth of legal judgments against Jones and Infowars.

In a heavily-redacted brief, Magill said some of the allegations lodged by Battaglia in his Feb. 29 motion to withdraw from the case “appear to violate a Texas attorney’s obligation of confidentiality.” Battaglia, in his motion, had discussed an internecine dispute over whether the estate should pursue an unspecified lawsuit.

Battaglia is mistaken about the scope of the CRO’s role and decision-making authority, Magill said. He proposed substituting Battaglia with attorney Annie Catmull of O’ConnorWechsler PLLC, which he said will advance the estate’s goals of bringing the case to a speedy conclusion and making payments to creditors, including the Sandy Hook families.

“Being bankruptcy counsel for FSS is not a desirable representation,” but Catmull is up to the task, Magill told the court.

Battaglia represented Jones in a prior, involuntary bankruptcy case brought against him by his ex-wife, according to court papers. That case was ultimately dismissed.

Magill also asked the court to approve the company’s application to hire attorney Harold May as litigation counsel over an objection lodged by litigation target PQPR Holdings, an Infowars vendor managed by Jones’ father.

A hearing to approve the proposed bankruptcy plan for Free Speech is scheduled to begin March 25.

The Sandy Hook families for years suffered unwarranted attacks from Jones, who falsely called the 2012 massacre a hoax, using his Infowars platform to amplify his claims. The families were awarded state court judgments in 2022, facilitating the defendants’ bankruptcy filings.

Last month, the families voted 100% in favor of a Chapter 11 plan for Jones that would liquidate and redistribute his property and cash. The plan would preserve potential legal actions against other parties affiliated with Jones and Infowars. The parties have requested to hold a plan approval hearing in Jones’ case in late May.

The case is In re Free Speech Systems LLC, Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 22-60043, response filed 3/5/24.