HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) 鈥 As Alex Jones continues telling his Infowars audience about his money problems and pleads for them to buy his products, his own documents show life is not all that bad 鈥 his net worth is around $14 million and his personal spending topped $93,000 in July alone, including thousands of dollars on meals and entertainment.
The conspiracy theorist and his lawyers file monthly financial reports in his , and the latest one has struck a nerve with the families of victims of . They're still seeking the $1.5 billion they won last year in lawsuits against Jones and his media company for repeatedly calling the 2012 massacre a hoax on his shows.
鈥淚t is disturbing that Alex Jones continues to spend money on excessive household expenditures and his extravagant lifestyle when that money rightfully belongs to the families he spent years tormenting,鈥 said Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer for the families. 鈥淭he families are increasingly concerned and will continue to contest these matters in court.鈥
In an Aug. 29 court filing, lawyers for the families said that if Jones doesn鈥檛 reduce his personal expenses to a 鈥渞easonable鈥 level, they will ask the bankruptcy judge to bar him from 鈥渇urther waste of estate assets,鈥 appoint a trustee to oversee his spending, or dismiss the bankruptcy case.
On his Infowars show Tuesday, Jones said he鈥檚 not doing anything wrong.
鈥淚f anything, I like to go to nice restaurants. That is my deal. I like to go on a couple of nice vacations a year, but I think I pretty much have earned that in this fight,鈥 he said, urging his audience to donate money for his legal expenses.
Jones' spending in July, which was up from nearly $75,000 in April, included his monthly $15,000 payment to his wife, Erika Wulff Jones 鈥 payouts called 鈥渇raudulent transfers鈥 by lawyers for the Sandy Hook families. Jones says they鈥檙e required under a prenuptial agreement.
Also that month, Jones spent $7,900 on housekeeping and dished out more than $6,300 for meals and entertainment, not including groceries, which totaled nearly $3,400 鈥 or roughly $850 per week.
A second home, his Texas lake house, cost him nearly $6,700 that month, including maintenance and property taxes, while his vehicles and boats sapped another $5,600, including insurance, maintenance and fuel.
Sandy Hook families won nearly the $1.5 billion in judgments against Jones last year in lawsuits over repeated promotion of a false theory that the school shooting that killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, never happened.
Relatives of the victims testified at the trials about being by Jones' believers, who sent threats and even confronted the grieving families in person, accusing them of being 鈥渃risis actors鈥 whose children never existed.
Collecting the astronomical sum, though, is proving to be a long battle.
When Jones filed for bankruptcy, it put a hold on the families' efforts to collect the lawsuit judgments in state courts as a federal bankruptcy court judge decides how much money Jones can actually pay his creditors.
Lawyers for the families have said in court that it has been difficult for them to track Jones' finances because of the numerous companies he owns and multiple deals among those corporate entities.
Meanwhile, Jones is still broadcasting. He and his media company, Free Speech Systems, are seeking court approval for a new contract that would pay him $1.5 million a year plus incentive bonuses, up from his current $520,000-a-year salary. The company also protection last year.
On Infowars, Jones said Tuesday that he is more than $1 million in debt. If he gets the salary increase, he said, he would be left with about $300,000 a year after paying his legal bills.
鈥淲ith all my expenses and things, that鈥檚 nothing,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 care about that. I鈥檓 wearing a shirt I bought, like, eight years ago, and I love it to death.鈥
Financial documents filed by Jones and his bankruptcy lawyers say his personal net worth is around $14 million. His assets include a home worth $2.6 million, a $2.2 million ranch, a $1.8 million lake house, a $500,000 rental property, and four vehicles and two boats worth more than $330,000 in total. Jones had nearly $800,000 in his bank accounts on July 31, court documents show.
Free Speech Systems, meanwhile, continues to rake in cash from the sale nutritional supplements, survival supplies and other merchandise that Jones hawks on Infowars, bringing in nearly $2.5 million in revenue in July alone, according to Jones' financial reports, which he signed under penalty of perjury. The company's expenses totaled about $2.4 million that month.
Meanwhile, some of the Sandy Hook families have another pending lawsuit claiming Jones in an attempt to protect his wealth. One of Jones' lawyers has called the allegations 鈥渞idiculous.鈥
Jones, who is appealing against him, sat for a deposition in his bankruptcy case Tuesday and Wednesday in his hometown of Austin, Texas, where Infowars is based.
On his show Tuesday, he denied financial wrongdoing.
鈥淚鈥檓 not Lex Luthor ... when it comes to finances and life,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 mean, I鈥檓 a straight-up guy. I鈥檓 a do-good in Mayberry RFD.鈥
