After Meeting With Alex Jones, Top DOJ Official Threatened Sandy Hook First Responder With Criminal Probe — then Walked It Back

Ed Martin, the head of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) vague weaponization task force, is walking back his recent threat to investigate a now-retired FBI special agent who sued the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over Jones’ lies about a mass school shooting.

Martin’s threat toward the agent was issued in a letter sent just days after Jones posted pictures of himself and Martin together. It came amid the Trump administration’s dangerous push to use the federal government to target its political opponents and protect its allies.

The agent, William Aldenberg, was among the first law enforcement officials to respond to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old. 

A Connecticut jury in 2022 found Jones liable for defaming Aldenberg and the families of eight victims by repeatedly claiming on his radio show Infowars that the massacre was a “false flag” operation planned by the government using “crisis actors” to undermine gun rights. The jury ordered Jones to pay plaintiffs over $1 billion in damage, which Jones still has yet to pay.

Aldenberg was the first witness to testify during the trial in the defamation case. He repeatedly choked up while describing seeing the bodies of dead children who Jones claimed were actors. Aldenberg also detailed how he and other law enforcement agents were harassed and threatened with violence for years as a result of conspiracy theories perpetuated by Jones.

In a recent letter to Chris Mattei, Aldenberg’s attorney, Martin questioned whether the agent joined the lawsuit for personal benefit and suggested that he could be criminally prosecuted. 

“As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit,” Martin wrote to Mattei. 

 “I encourage you to review those,” Martin added, requesting that Mattei respond to his questions by Sept. 29.

Though Martin requested that Mattei “keep this correspondence confidential” because he did not “wish to litigate this in the media,” Jones posted a copy of the letter on social media.

“The DOJ’s Task Force On Government Weaponization Against The American People Has Launched An Investigation Into The Democrat Party / FBI Directing Illegal Law-fare Against Alex Jones And Infowars,” Jones wrote in the post.

After Jones posted the letter, Martin sent a followup letter to Mattei rescinding his initial request for information.

“At this time, I write to inform you that there is no investigation of you or your client,” Martin wrote to Mattei. “Because of this, I hereby withdraw my request for information from you or your former client.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered Martin to rescind the letter, ABC News reported.

In a post on social media, Mattei said Martin’s letter was Jones’ latest attempt to harass Aldenberg and the families of Sandy Hook victims.

“Jones and Martin corruptly used DOJ to harass Sandy Hook families and the heroic FBI agent who ran into the school to save any children he could,” Mattei said. “I called them out and now the so-called inquiry has been withdrawn. This is a moment to stand up to bullying, lawless misconduct.”

Jones’ business empire, including Infowars and its parent company, Free Speech Systems, is in the process of being dismantled to pay for legal damages stemming from his false remarks about the shooting.

Martin’s letter, dated Sept. 15, was sent just days after Jones posted pictures of himself with Martin after a personal meeting between the two men. 

Jones accompanied one of the pictures by saying that the “Deep State is in DEEP S***!!!”

Martin holds several senior positions across the DOJ. In addition to heading the weaponization task force, he is U.S. pardon attorney and has been tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate mortgage fraud allegations against Trump’s political opponents.

Trump earlier this year pulled Martin’s nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia after multiple Republican senators said they wouldn’t vote to confirm him because of his work defending Jan. 6 rioters, and his actions as acting attorney.

In that role, Martin sought a grand jury investigation into Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), sent threatening letters to scientific journals and law schools, and moved to dismiss charges against a Jan. 6 criminal defendant while he still represented the defendant as a defense attorney.

Martin also has publicized his investigations of some of Trump’s foremost political adversaries for mortgage fraud. Last month, he posted a bizarre picture of himself outside the home of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).

This story has been updated in light of Martin rescinding his request for information from Aldenberg.