The Gateway Pundit has bankruptcy case dismissed in harsh opinion detailing 'eye-catching' assets

Source: Law & Crime

Jul 25th, 2024, 1:51 pm


A federal bankruptcy court in Florida has dismissed Chapter 11 proceedings started by the company that owns the conservative blog The Gateway Pundit. The move opens the publication up to liability from several lawsuits filed by allegedly defamed Georgia election workers and a former employee of an election software company. On Thursday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mindy A. Mora put the kibosh on efforts by TGP Communications, LLC to shield itself from creditors via corporate debt restructuring.

The court’s move came relatively quickly – the abortive bankruptcy process lasted a mere three months. The company, which is wholly owned by the blog’s founder, Jim Hoft, did not file for bankruptcy protections in good faith, the court found. Rather, the judge found, based on Hoft’s own testimony at a recent hearing, “TGP filed bankruptcy purely as a litigation strategy.”

When TGP filed for bankruptcy in late April, the business was already facing two aforementioned lawsuits: one filed by ex-election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss; the other filed by ex-Dominion director of product safety and security Eric Coomer.

Those defamation lawsuits concern conspiracy theories about never-proven fraud that allegedly occurred during the 2020 election. Similar defamation lawsuits have, to various degrees, ensnared various other high-profile players within Donald Trump’s orbit. One similar such case is that of Rudy Giuliani – who also briefly sought, and subsequently lost, bankruptcy protections amid a raft of postelection litigation.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/a-bad-faith-filing-the-gateway-pundit-has-bankruptcy-case-dismissed-in-harsh-opinion-detailing-eye-catching-assets-opening-company-up-to-multiple-defamation-lawsuits/