Right-Wing News Site ‘The Gateway Pundit’ Accused Of ‘Bankruptcy Abuse’ In Court

The far-right news site The Gateway Pundit responded to claims of “bankruptcy abuse” during a hearing this Thursday, over a week after confessing he used the company’s finances for personal expenses.

In April, Jim Hoft, the founder of the media site, announced that his company had filed for bankruptcy after facing many lawsuits about false claims it made about the 2020 presidential election.

The Gateway Pundit has endured litigation by election workers and other people who faced harassment after the site made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. 

In a bankruptcy filing, the company said it had between $100,000 and $500,000 in liabilities. 

It also said it had between $500,000 and $1 million in assets, later revised to $2.3 million. 

A bankruptcy judge in Florida will consider a request from creditors – three people suing the site for defamation – mother-and-daughter Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer.

During a bankruptcy hearing on June 18, Hoft described his finances, revealing that he used his company to obtain an $800,000 loan to purchase a condo in Jensen Beach, Florida, in 2021. 

According to a filing, none of the loans have been repaid so far. The filing lists the condo as the company headquarters.

According to another filing, The Gateway Pundit also owns a 2021 Porsche Cayenne worth nearly $54,000. Hoft stated he uses it as a “company car” whenever he is in St. Louis, Missouri, where he is originally from and still spends most of the year. His monthly salary is $17,000.

Hoft seemed to view the difference between his finances and TGP Communications, the now-bankrupt corporate entity that owns The Gateway Pundit, as little more than a formality.

He stated that he and his brother, Joe Hoft, a Gateway Pundit cofounder, took loans from the company. 

When asked whether the loans had been recorded in writing, what interest rates were being charged, and the loans’ due dates, the founder failed to give any explicit answers.

“We’ve never been, uh, you know, enormously profitable,” the founder said in court.

Hoft declared that the company’s litigation insurance policy would not cover all the expenses required for defamation cases.

One of the attorneys who spoke during the hearing stated that almost $1.2 million to $1.3 million left on the policy out of an original $2 million.

“The insurance policies, as you know, are dwindling down, and so that was a serious reason that I looked at the situation I was in and decided that bankruptcy would be a good option,” Hoft said at the hearing.

Some creditors suing The Gateway Pundit argued that bankruptcy is a legal maneuver to try to escape from accountability in other courts.

“This case is a pure litigation tactic,” the Georgia election worker’s lawyers wrote in a filing.

At the end of the hearing, a U.S. Trustee’s Office lawyer warned that his office might try to have the bankruptcy rejected – exposing The Gateway Pundit to the defamation lawsuits it tried avoiding – or have someone else lead the company.

“Don’t be surprised if the U.S. Trustee either makes a motion to convert, dismiss, or appoint a Chapter 11 trustee in this case,” the lawyer stated.