Coeur d'Alene _ Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler lost his attempt Tuesday to postpone the public auction of his former compound north of Hayden Lake.

The abandoned 20-acre site, its buildings and all the items left in them are scheduled to be sold in one package at a public auction Feb. 13.

The sale to satisfy Butler's creditors will conclude a bankruptcy filed by him in October, about two months after a North Idaho woman and her son were awarded a $6.3 million judgment.

Victoria and Jason Keenan sued Butler after they were assaulted by Aryan Nations security guards in 1998.

Acting as his own attorney, Butler filed a motion Tuesday asking U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Terry Myers to postpone the auction.

"This goes back to 1937," Butler started to tell the court, in what sounded like the beginning of his stump lecture about Judaism and communism.

"I don't want to hear about that," the judge said, quickly cutting Butler off and warning him to stick to legal issues involving his motion to postpone the auction.

Butler then said the court has no legal jurisdiction to sell "intellectual properties," including the names Aryan Nations and the Church of Jesus Christ Christian.

The judge previously ruled that Butler's personal interest in use of those names will be part of the auction.

Butler said he wanted the auction postponed until he could appeal the bankruptcy judge's decision.

"I asked for a stay in disposition of this case until we can find out just much of the de jure constitutions of the United States and Idaho still exist," Butler told the court.

Butler said the bankruptcy trustee, attorney Ford Elsaesser of Sandpoint, should have attempted to determine what property in the bankruptcy was owned by the church.

"This action is against myself, period," Butler said.

Despite the court's earlier warning, the Aryan leader said the handling of his bankruptcy "is a political issue."

"It's been a political issue for 60-some years," Butler said.

Coeur d'Alene attorney H. James Magnuson, who represents the bankruptcy trustee, said the burden was on Butler to meet a checklist of reasons why the auction should be postponed.

First among those is the likelihood of success if an appeal is pursued, Magnuson told the court. But any appeal by Butler likely would be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, Magnuson said.

Butler said some of the property that will be sold belongs to the Aryan Nations church, not to him personally, even though he listed it among his assets in the bankruptcy filing.

The church structure, its pews, pulpit and organ are owned by the Church of Jesus Christ Christian, not him, Butler said.

But when he filed for bankruptcy, Butler did not claim any personal exemptions, nor did he say in court papers that any of the listed property was owned by the church.

The land and its buildings were owned by Saphire Inc., an Idaho corporation. Butler is the only director of that corporation.

The judge called a recess to consider the matter, while Butler waited in the hall of the U.S. courthouse with his followers, Arthur Sherman, Shaun Winkler and Debra Maggiore.

"I never had any (legal) representation but myself," Butler said. "No lawyer would handle it."

When court resumed, the judge said the bankruptcy case was not a political issue as Butler alleged. "The court disagrees. It's a bankruptcy issue."

The judge said Butler had failed to meet any of the criteria for a delay in the auction.

When the auction occurs, the Keenans are expected to be the only bidders because of court-approved sale restrictions, including a nonrefundable $15,000 in earnest money.