A Popular Conspiracy Theory Website Just Declared Bankruptcy

The founder of the conspiracy theory website Gateway Pundit said Wednesday that the company was declaring bankruptcy while it fights ongoing defamation lawsuits.

Jim Hoft, the site’s founder, said in a post that Gateway Pundit’s parent company, TGP Communications, had decided to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections in the Southern District of Florida “as a result of the progressive liberal lawfare attacks against our media outlet.” Hoft stressed the move was “not an admission of fault or culpability” and said the site would continue publishing.

Gateway Pundit did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

For two decades, the site has published falsehoods and conspiracy theories on everything from vaccines to election fraud. Donald Trump frequently shares its material.

The most notable lawsuit against the website is from Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. In 2021, they sued the Gateway Pundit, Hoft and his twin brother, and website contributor Joe Hoft in St. Louis Circuit Court for defamation and emotional distress. The website had falsely alleged that the mother-daughter pair had purposefully manipulated the vote count in Joe Biden’s favor.

“What’s Up, Ruby,” the Gateway Pundit headline naming Freeman read. “BREAKING: Crooked Operative Filmed Pulling Out Suitcases of Ballots in Georgia IS IDENTIFIED.” Trump himself later brought up the pair, including Freeman by name , in a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, using them as justification in part for his request that Raffensperger “find” Trump the votes needed to win the state.

Among other things, the website’s coverage claimed that Freeman and Moss “pulled out suitcases full of ballots and began counting