Former Republican congressman Peter Meijer forced his CNN co-panelist Kat Abughazaleh to admit her “vested interest” in The Onion’s takeover of Alex Jones’s InfoWars after she made a fiery on-air appeal to viewers Thursday night to protest the stalled case.

Abughazaleh, who ran as a Democratic congressional candidate in 2026 and previously worked as a former reporter for progressive outlets Media Matters for America, is the girlfriend of satirical outlet The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins.

The Onion is seeking to take control of the InfoWars brand, which was liquidated to compensate families of the Sandy Hook victims, who won more than $1.3 billion in defamation judgments against Jones.

A Texas appeals court this week granted Jones a temporary reprieve, delaying any immediate takeover and pushing the fight toward the state’s supreme court.

During Thursday’s NewsNight on CNN, as the panel was discussing President Donald Trump’s feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Abughazaleh veered to raise the topic of her partner’s stalled legal battle.

“It’s not just about Kimmel,” she said. “Last night we saw in Texas courts that the case for Alex Jones and the Sandy Hook families, which has been going on for more than eight years, these families have been tortured by this man for over a decade – he somehow found a legal loophole made just for him. Even lawyers don’t totally understand what’s happening here.”

Looking down camera, she called on viewers in Texas to act: “If you’re watching this and you’re in Texas, you should call your representative and ask, what the hell is happening with that deal. This goes to speech all across the spectrum, except for the people that align with the most extreme parts of the right.”

“Do you have a vested interest in the case?” Meijer asked when his co-panelist had finished.

“Sorry?” she replied.

“Do you have a vested interest?” he repeated.

Abughazaleh replied: “Yeah, my partner owns The Onion but, also, do you not want the Sandy Hook families to get their fair share?”

“Yeah, I do,” Meijer began. “I think Alex Jones –”

“Right now, this is the only deal –” she cut over him.

“I think Alex Jones should be off the air, I just was saying that there are other externalities when it comes to that,” he concluded. “I like disclosure. I like honesty. And I think the Sandy Hook families deserve everything.”

“Absolutely,” Abughazaleh replied.

The clash came on the same night that Jones broadcast his final show under the InfoWars brand name after a court-appointed receiver overseeing Jones’s assets ceased covering operational costs, forcing the closure of the Austin studio.

Watch above via CNN.

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