What is the most powerful weapon the federal government holds? It is not a missile or a tank. It is the awesome and terrifying power to launch a criminal investigation against a citizen. This week, a top Department of Justice official appears to have turned that weapon on a new and shocking target: a decorated former FBI agent and first responder to the Sandy Hook massacre.
This is not a story about a legitimate investigation. It is the story of a grave and constitutionally suspect abuse of power at the highest levels of our government. It is a test of whether the rule of law can withstand being used as a tool to harass the enemies of the administration’s political allies.
A Hero Harassed, A Conspiracy Theorist Rewarded
For years, Alex Jone pushed the conspiracy that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a “hoax.” His followers then relentlessly harassed the victims’ families and the first responders, including former FBI agent William Aldenberg.
Aldenberg and other families successfully sued Jones for defamation, winning roughly $1.4 billion in damages. The story should have ended there. Instead, the Department of Justice intervened.
The current series of events is stunning. First, a top DOJ official, Ed Martin – head of the “Task Force On Government Weaponization” – was photographed with Alex Jones. Days later, Martin sent a “confidential” letter to Aldenberg, implying he was now under criminal investigation for his role in the lawsuits against Jones.
Jones then published that letter, claiming it was proof that the DOJ was investigating a “conspiracy” against him. After a swift public outcry, the DOJ retracted the letter.
The Constitutional Crime of an Abusive Process
The damage, however, was already done. This sequence of events is a textbook example of what is known in law as abuse of process or malicious prosecution. It is a profound violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
The due process clause is a guarantee that the government will act with fairness and integrity when it seeks to deprive a citizen of their liberty or property. To launch an investigation without a good-faith basis, for the ulterior purpose of intimidating a citizen or providing political aid to an ally, is a perversion of that constitutional duty. The process of an investigation itself – the fear, the legal fees, the reputational damage – is a deprivation of liberty, and to use it as a weapon is a grave constitutional crime.
The Weaponization of the “Weaponization” Task Force
The most profound and Orwellian irony is that these actions were carried out by the head of the “Task Force On Government Weaponization.” This is not an isolated incident. This is the same official who has fired Jan. 6 prosecutors and staged a photo-op outside the home of the New York Attorney General.
This is a story of an administration using the very machinery of justice to attack its perceived enemies and reward its friends. While the DOJ has now retracted the letter, the genie is out of the bottle. Jones has been given a new piece of government-created “evidence” to fuel his conspiracies for years to come.
This incident is a stark and ugly demonstration of what happens when the rule of law is subverted for political ends. The Department of Justice is supposed to be a shield for the innocent and a sword against the guilty. This episode shows it being used as a shield for a conspiracy theorist and a sword against a hero – a constitutional perversion that should alarm every American.