As always. It's what they always do. They intentionally set dates in the future they know the Dems will likely be in charge, and let the bullshit they set into motion inevitably hit the fan while they blame the "current" government. And the media goes with it instead of calling them out on it because that's where the money is.
News organizations should be required to be non-profit. At least force them to try and hide the money trail.
The issue is what the valuation of the seized assets are. The asset seizure is only to fulfill the monetary debt since he cannot pay the entire amount in cash. If he could pay it in full, there would be no seizure (unless the seizure itself was a separate part of the judgement). The valuation is essentially what someone is willing to pay for it, and in this case, there are only 2 bidders to value it.
The Onion's bid was not the highest bid, but does have the backing of the family. Jones on the other hand also has a right for the valuation to be as correct as possible to fulfill his debt. This type of situation isn't particularly unique, and it's not exactly new.
The Judge could end up deciding that The Onion's bid goes through due to family backing since the debt is to them and the asset being sold is directly relevant to the judgement, but the valuation of the opposing bid is counted against the debt, which is the only thing Jones is really entitled to here.