They say it was a Trump hate fest without one kind word about him.

Gateway Pudit's Jim Hofe isn't attending but has been furiously writing
about what he thinks is going on. Shrewd journalism like this is hard to
find on the right because most of them lack imagination but still don't
leave their basements like Hoft. He's going to face criminal charges
soon once he's held up by his feet and they shake every last cent from him.

Far-right blogger Jim Hoft used The Gateway Pundit's company funds to buy
himself a Porsche and an oceanside Florida condo
Jacob Shamsian and Jack Newsham
Jun 18, 2024, 3:43 PM EDT
Jim Hoft Trump white house
Gateway Pundit publisher Jim Hoft listens to then-President Donald Trump
during a "social media summit" meeting with prominent conservative social
media figures in the White House. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The Gateway Pundit was sued by election workers over its claims that
they rigged the 2020 election.
Creditors grilled its chief Jim Hoft on Tuesday morning about
undocumented loans to himself and others.
Hoft admitted using Gateway Pundit funds to buy himself a Florida condo
and a Porsche.

Jim Hoft, the far-right blogger behind the notorious conspiracy theory
website The Gateway Pundit, gave a picture of his finances in a bankruptcy
hearing Tuesday morning, revealing he purchased a Florida condo in recent
years and uses a Porsche SUV as a company car.

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

Both he and his brother, Joe Hoft � a Gateway Pundit cofounder � took loans
from the company, he said. He was repeatedly asked about whether the loans
were memorialized in writing, what interest rates were being charged, and
when the loans were due, and he did not give any clear answers.

"We've never been, uh, you know, enormously profitable," Hoft told
creditors.
Advertisement

TGP Communications declared bankruptcy in April while trying to fend off
defamation lawsuits from people it had falsely claimed manipulated the
results of the 2020 election, including election workers Ruby Freeman and
Wandrea Moss and former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer.

The company had between $100,000 and $500,000 in liabilities, it said in a
bankruptcy filing. At the same time, it said it had between $500,000 and $1
million in assets � a figure it later revised to $2.3 million. According to
Hoft, the company's litigation insurance policy wouldn't cover all the
expenses needed for the defamation cases.

Related stories

The Gateway Pundit just had its bankruptcy dismissed. Now, the far-right
blog will face defamation lawsuits that threaten its future.

Judge puts liens on Rudy Giuliani's apartments while dismissing his
bankruptcy case

One of the lawyers who spoke at Tuesday's hearing said there was about $1.2
million to $1.3 million left on the policy out of an initial $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.
Advertisement

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

After nearly four years of procedural wrangling, Hoft finally agreed in
April to take a deposition in a lawsuit brought by Freeman and Moss, two
Georgia election workers he falsely accused of manipulating the ballot
count in the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost. The two previously won
a $148 million jury award in damages for a defamation lawsuit against
election conspiracy theorist and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani,
which forced him into bankruptcy as well.

Coomer has also sued Hoft after The Gateway Pundit falsely accused him of
being on "a conference call filled with Antifa-sympathizing callers" to rig
the election. Hoft has lost a number of procedural challenges to that
lawsuit as well, though it hasn't yet gone to trial.

The bankruptcy has stopped both cases from moving forward.
Advertisement

"This case is a pure litigation tactic," lawyers for Moss and Freeman wrote
in a recent filing.

Tuesday's bankruptcy hearing shed some light on how Jim Hoft managed the
company's finances. He used the company to give himself an $800,000 loan to
purchase a condo in 2021 in Jensen Beach, Florida, he said. To date, none
of the loan has been repaid, according to a recent filing, which also lists
the condo as the company headquarters.

The company also owns a 2021 Porsche Cayenne worth about $54,000, according
to a recent filing. Hoft said he has used it as a "company car" when he's
in St. Louis, where he is originally from and still spends a portion of the
year.

That is all on top of a salary of $17,000 a month that Hoft pays himself,
he said at the hearing.
Advertisement

Hoft didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Hoft is the driving force behind The Gateway Pundit, which ascended to
prominence during the presidential administration of Trump, who embraced
the site and allowed it a seat among the White House press corps.

The site often misidentifies the shooters in mass shooting events and has
been the source of numerous hoaxes and false stories regarding the
coronavirus, vaccines, and the 2016 and 2020 elections.

The Gateway Pundit just had its bankruptcy dismissed. Now, the far-right
blog will face defamation lawsuits that threaten its future.

https://www.businessinsider.com/gateway-pundit-bankruptcy-dismissed-bad-
faith-defamation-lawsuits-2024-7