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 a