UPDATE: Alex Jones, of Infowars.com, has issued a retraction and apology under pressure from James Alefantis to avoid a lawsuit. One can surmise that Alefantis was putting the pressure on Jones and, feeling the weight of the power behind Alefantis, Jones capitulated in order to save his media empire, employees, and family from what would have been an overwhelming legal battle. Video here.

Despite false reports to the contrary, public legal records show that no Pizzagate lawsuits have been filed by Comet Ping Pong owner James Alefantis or D.C. attorney Michael Maccoby in response to Pizzagate-related reporting by alternative news figureheads Alex Jones, of Infowars.com, and Jake Morphonios, of YouTube channel End Times News Report.

A rambling video released by Jones last month alleges that he was threatened with lawsuits by Alefantis, and was cited as evidence that Jones claims a lawsuit is already official. However, despite being a somewhat incoherent, vague home video, Jones never says outright that he is being sued — only that he is being threatened formally, and that if he is sued, that he and his supporters would fight it until the end.

Morphonios reported similar threats from Mr. Maccoby, whose lawyers sent him a letter in February demanding that he remove video content from his YouTube channel mentioning Mr. Maccoby, and issue a formal apology by March 3rd, 2017, or face a lawsuit to the tune of $5 million. Morphonios has done neither, and has indicated that he does not plan on complying.

A records search on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, or PACER, reveals that neither party has followed through — yet. Perhaps it was a test to see how Jones and others would react. Unsurprisingly, like Morphonios, the vivacious and well-funded Jones has indicated he has no interest in entertaining cease and desist requests.

PACER and JUSTIA search results for James Alefantis and Michael Maccoby are below:

It’s possible that the documentation and legal strategies for Pizzagate-related legal fights are still being prepared. However, the Pizzagate story first broke in late 2016, some eight months after Wikileaks’ March 2016 release of John Podesta’s emails. And given mainstream media ubiquitously denouncing all Pizzagate-related research as nothing but defamatory lies and a digital kind of pitchfork vigilantism, one would think this type of lawsuit would be a relatively easy win for Alefantis and other parties named by Pizzagate researchers.

At the very least, the delay might be perceived as an admission that the case for defamation, slander, and other charges is not as open-and-shut as the mainstream reaction to Pizzagate has indicated. So the question is: If neither Alefantis nor Maccoby have filed lawsuits, despite the demands in their threat letters not being met, what is their next move?

Time will tell whether or not any Pizzagate lawsuits become official. If they do, we will post a report on it as soon as we can.

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