By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A U.S. Justice Department official on Wednesday retracted a demand for information from an FBI agent who testified against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in a defamation case that resulted in a $1.3 billion verdict for spreading lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting.
The request came days after Ed Martin, the head of a Justice Department effort to remedy instances of alleged weaponization of the U.S. government against President Donald Trump and his supporters, sent a letter to the FBI agent’s lawyer seeking information about whether the agent received a financial benefit from his participation in the case.
FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg, a plaintiff in the case, testified at Jones’ civil trial in 2022 about responding to the scene at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 students and six staff members were slain.
Jones, the founder of the far-right Infowars website, claimed for years that their deaths were staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize guns from Americans. He has since acknowledged that the mass shooting occurred, but plaintiffs said Jones for years cashed in on his lies about the massacre.
Jones has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the judgment.
The letter to Aldenberg’s lawyer, dated September 15, referenced “criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit.”
The follow-up from Martin sent on Wednesday and reviewed by Reuters, stated that there was no investigation into Aldenberg and “because of this, I hereby withdraw my request for information from you or your former client.”
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I am happy to learn that this so-called inquiry has now been withdrawn if it ever existed at all,” Aldenberg’s lawyer Christopher Mattei said in an email. “Let this be a reminder: this is not a moment to cower in silence, but to stand up to bullying, lawless misconduct.”
The retraction followed an intervention by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who confronted Martin about the initial letter, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Jones posted a copy of the initial letter on X on Tuesday, claiming the Justice Department was investigating “illegal lawfare” against him by the Democratic Party and the FBI. Lawyers for Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)
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