A federal judge in Florida threw out a bankruptcy case filed by the Gateway Pundit, ruling that the site, which is known for spreading conspiracy theories, sought bankruptcy protection in \u201cbad faith\u201d to avoid having to pay potential damages in defamation suits related to the site\u2019s reporting on the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
The Thursday ruling from U.S. bankruptcy judge Mindy Mora in the Southern District of Florida means that defamation cases from two Georgia election workers, as well as one from a former Dominion Voting Systems executive, can proceed. The defamation cases had been held up while the bankruptcy case was ongoing.<\/p>\n
Gateway Pundit wrote a series of articles about the 2020 presidential election amplifying claims that the election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and former Dominion executive Eric Coomer helped rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. Gateway Pundit denies wrongdoing and previously said it was seeking bankruptcy protection to fight against \u201cprogressive liberal lawfare attacks\u201d against the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased that the Court today saw through The Gateway Pundit\u2019s transparent attempt to abuse the bankruptcy process to avoid accountability and granted our motion to dismiss the bankruptcy case,\u201d Brittany Williams, a lawyer at Protect Democracy, said in a statement. The organization is representing Freeman and Moss along with several private law firms and attorneys and the Yale Law School\u2019s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.<\/p>\n
Coomer\u2019s attorney did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n
Gateway Pundit published an article responding to the judge\u2019s decision, which the organization plans to appeal. The piece alleged, referencing an unnamed anonymous source, that the Department of Justice had intervened in the case to influence the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this unusual bankruptcy case, truth is at the center of all disputes. Lack of truthful disclosure, theories based upon half-truths, claims for which truth could provide a defense \u2014 all possibilities are on display,\u201d Mora wrote in her decision. \u201cLitigation about truth pushed [Gateway Pundit] to file bankruptcy, but that unusual twist does not alter the Court\u2019s duty to remain focused on bankruptcy issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mora wrote that, far from being financially insolvent, Gateway Pundit\u2019s assets were \u201ceye-catching.\u201d She noted that the company\u2019s assets were 22 times the size of its liabilities. The company reported more than $3 million in revenue in 2023, higher than the previous year, and was on track to continue that trajectory in 2024.<\/p>\n
The judge wrote that the \u201cpublication of sensational stories has generated healthy revenues\u201d for Gateway Pundit, but that \u201cthe viability of that strategy as a long-term business plan \u2026 is now in question.\u201d The defamation cases challenge what the judge described as a \u201cbrash (and allegedly not fact-checked) reporting style.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge went on to say that if a court ruled against the site in a defamation suit, \u201cthen the Gateway Pundit might choose to adopt a more restrained editorial style. That choice could lead to fewer website views, which would likely soften revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTGP remains both balance sheet and cash flow solvent. There is no present financial distress, no looming foreclosure sale, no prospect of a market crash,\u201d Mora wrote. The only financial strain resulted from the defamation suits. \u201cThat\u2019s not a basis for bankruptcy relief; it\u2019s the justice system in operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jim Hoft, owner and founder of the Gateway Pundit, has said he started blogging as a hobby in 2004, overseeing significant growth in the site\u2019s traffic, particularly following the 2020 election, which Hoft and his small staff covered extensively.<\/p>\n
One of Gateway Pundit\u2019s highest-profile stories of 2020 was published after a volunteer Trump campaign attorney presented a misleading video during a post-election hearing in Georgia. The video purported to show that Freeman and Moss, Freeman\u2019s daughter, had tampered with ballots.<\/p>\n
That day, Gateway Pundit published the first of 58 articles on the two women that would appear over the next year and a half, even though Georgia election officials had quickly debunked claims that the pair had engaged in election fraud. Gateway Pundit\u2019s stories cast Freeman and Moss as \u201ccrooked\u201d operatives who counted \u201cillegal ballots from a suitcase stashed under a table!\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2021, the women sued Gateway Pundit, Hoft and his twin brother, Joe, who is a frequent contributor to the site. Gateway Pundit and the Hofts filed a counterclaim, alleging that the case against them is designed to drive Gateway Pundit out of business. The counterclaim was dismissed in 2023.<\/p>\n
A federal jury in 2023 ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay the two women $148 million for his own false claims that they helped steal the election from Trump. His lawyer, Joseph D. Sibley IV, told jurors that Gateway Pundit had been \u201cpatient zero\u201d for the false claims.<\/p>\n
Coomer sued the site in Colorado in 2020 after it boosted false claims that he was part of an effort to throw the election for Biden.<\/p>\n
Gateway Pundit\u2019s parent company, TGP Communications, filed for bankruptcy in April. \u201cWe will not be deterred from our mission of remaining fearless and being one of the most trusted independent media outlets in America today. We do not expect that to change,\u201d Jim Hoft wrote at the time.<\/p>\n
In her ruling, the Florida judge indicated that the company, which had been based out of Hoft\u2019s home in Missouri, appeared to have been operating in Florida for several years without a license and may owe back taxes there. \u201cTaking Hoft\u2019s sworn testimony at face value, TGP has been doing business in the state of Florida for approximately 3 years without a local business license,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
Referring to substantial assets controlled by Hoft, the judge wrote that \u201cit is difficult to tell where TGP ends and Hoft begins.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted a Jensen Beach condo that Hoft purchased for just under $800,000 and a 2021 Porsche Cayenne whose value is over $50,000 as some of the assets \u201caccrued with TGP\u2019s funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
In concluding that the case was filed in bad faith, the judge wrote that \u201cthe plain statutory language and years of legislative history show that bankruptcy relief is intended to foster equitable goals, not provide a Monopoly-style \u2018Get out of jail free\u2019 card.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A federal judge in Florida threw out a bankruptcy case filed by the Gateway Pundit, ruling that the site, which is known for spreading conspiracy theories, sought bankruptcy protection in \u201cbad faith\u201d to avoid having to pay potential damages in defamation suits related to the site\u2019s reporting on the 2020 election. The Thursday ruling from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}