Blood from a stone-cold liar: How Sandy Hook families can increase the odds that Alex Jones will pay up

On his Infowars radio show Wednesday, Alex Jones, who profited off calling the massacre of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary a hoax, scoffed at ever paying a penny of the $965 million defamation judgment by a Connecticut jury (plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees to be determined by the judge).

“Do these people actually think they’re getting any money?” quoth the bucket of pond scum. “For hundreds of thousands of dollars, I can keep them in court for years.” In between ads selling nutritional supplements and raising funds for his appeal, he pulled a reverse Donald Trump, claiming he was worth no more than $2 million.

It’s typical Jonestown Kool-Aid that ignores the fact that even if he is worth far less than a cool billion — a forensic economist testified at his Texas trial that Jones’ net worth was likely between $135 and $270 million — he and his many associated enterprises throw off enough cash to begin paying down the debt. (The exact amount the court says he owes may well be reduced in the ensuing months and years either by the trial judge, an appeals court or a bankruptcy court.)

Though Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, is in bankruptcy proceedings, that’s not the only financial interest Jones holds. Given the shell game he plays, the courts must shine an unforgiving light on his rat’s nest of assets.

Nor is Jones’ current worth the end of the story. Sandy Hook families could find themselves in a position to garnish his future earnings — a scenario that would leave those most harmed by his hateful lies reliant on him continuing to spout them.

Morally speaking, the best option is probably liquidation of Jones’ properties. That’s roughly what happened after Hulk Hogan won a $140 million libel judgment against Gawker, settling for $31 million. The stuff that comes out of Jones’ mouth is usually found in an outhouse. For the families he defamed to get justice, they’re going to have to send him to the poorhouse.