Trump DOJ retracts letter that implied Sandy Hook FBI agent was under investigation

By Kaitlan Collins, Hannah Rabinowitz, Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) — A top Justice Department official has retracted a letter he sent to an FBI agent who responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that suggested the agent was being investigated in relation to a defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones.

In a letter to William Aldenberg’s attorney last week, President Donald Trump ally Ed Martin implied the agent was being scrutinized because of his role in a major lawsuit led by families of victims that resulted in a $1.4 billion judgment against the conspiracy theorist Jones.

Aldenberg, who was one of the first responders the day of the 2012 elementary school massacre, was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He and the families testified that they faced years of harassment and threats from those who believed Jones’ lies that the shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six adults, was a hoax.

Martin initially told Aldenberg’s attorney that he had questions about the agent benefiting financially from the lawsuit and ominously warned that “there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit.”

“I encourage you to review those,” Martin wrote, according to a copy of the letter Jones posted on X.

But in a new letter addressed to attorney Christopher Mattei on Wednesday, Martin withdrew his initial letter entirely.

In a brief note, CNN first reported, Martin wrote that there is no investigation of Aldenberg and “because of this, I hereby withdraw my request for information from you or your former client.”

Mattei said he is pleased “this so-called inquiry” has ended.

“Less than 18 hours after calling out Alex Jones and Ed Martin for their corrupt use of the Department of Justice to harass Sandy Hook families and the heroic FBI agent who ran into that school to save any children he could, I am happy to learn that this so-called inquiry has now been withdrawn, if it ever existed at all,” Mattei said in a statement. “Let this be a reminder: this is not a moment to cower in silence, but to stand up to bullying, lawless misconduct. This isn’t over.”

Jones met with Martin earlier this month

After Trump took office, Martin was initially set to be the top US attorney in Washington, but after failing to secure confirmation because the Senate torpedoed his nomination, he was instead given multiple roles inside the Justice Department. He now serves as the director of the department’s “Weaponization Working Group.”

The original September 15 letter from Martin, disclosed by Jones on social media, was met with derision from the families and the FBI agent.

“Thanks to the courage of the Sandy Hook families, Infowars will soon be finished,” Mattei, the attorney for Aldenberg and the families, said in a statement responding to the original letter. “In his last gasps, Jones is once again harassing them, only now with the corrupt complicity of at least one DOJ official. It’s as disgusting as it is pathetic, and we will not stand for it.”

Jones posted the original letter on X. The letter does not make any specific allegation or charge behind the investigation.

Martin has not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

“I am writing to request information from you regarding your client FBI Special Agent William Aldenberg and his role in certain litigation that may benefit him personally and that may impact our citizens and our legal system,” the letter to Aldenberg’s attorney says. “As you may know, there are criminal laws protecting the citizens from actions by government employees who may be acting for personal benefit. I encourage you to review those.”

Since he joined the Justice Department early in Trump’s second turn, Martin has sent several similar letters threatening legal action against the president’s perceived enemies or organizations that run counter to his agenda – many of which have been leaked to the public.

In his letter to Mattei, Martin requested he “keep this correspondence confidential” because “I do not wish to litigate this in the media.”

Nevertheless, Jones posted the letter on X, claiming that “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.”

And earlier this month before the letter was sent, Jones posted a picture of Martin and himself on social media with the caption, “I just had a very important meeting with DOJ strikeforce leader, Ed Martin.”

And this week, Jones on his online show said, “a bunch of other actions are being taken right now. They are gonna be breaking very soon.”

CNN’s Britney Lavecchia contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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