Conspiracy theories continue to swirl about former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Jessica Aber, who was found dead at the age of 43 on Saturday.
The Context
As a federal prosecutor, Aber was involved in investigations into intelligence leaks, alleged war crimes by pro-Russian elements and the indictment of individuals suspected of supplying sensitive information to Russia.
Newsweek sought email comment from the Justice Department and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia on Monday.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber is seen in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2023. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber is seen in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2023. Samuel Corum/Getty Images
What To Know
Aber, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, resigned in January after President Donald Trump was inaugurated. The Alexandria Police Department said on Saturday that officers responded shortly after 9 a.m. to reports of an unresponsive woman.
Natural Causes
Her death appears to be from natural causes, two sources close to the investigation told ABC.
“At this point there is no indication of foul play,” ABC reported.
A friend of the family told ABC News on Sunday that police believe Aber’s death “was the result of a longstanding medical issue.”
Aber had a very strong history of indicting pro-Russian agents and spies within the U.S. Her cases include:
CIA Analyst Indictment
In mid-January, Asif Rahman, a former CIA analyst, pleaded guilty to retaining and transmitting top secret national defense information to people who were not entitled to receive it, before the information then appeared on social media.
Aber said that Rahman had “placed lives at risk, undermined U.S. foreign relations, and compromised our ability to collect vital intelligence in the future.”
Money Laundering
Aber was also involved in securing the indictment of Russian national Sergey Ivanov. The Justice Department said in late September that it had unsealed an indictment charging Ivanov with involvement in “multiple money laundering services that catered to cybercriminals, as well as the seizure of websites associated with three illicit cryptocurrency exchanges.”
Spying
In November 2024, Aber indicted a Virginia-based company and two of its senior executives, who were were accused of running “three different schemes to illegally transship sensitive American technology to Russia,” including sending equipment to a Russian telecommunications company linked to the Kremlin and Russia’s FSB security agency.
War Crimes
In late 2023, Aber was also involved in an indictment against four Russia-affiliated individuals charged with torture, inhuman treatment, and unlawful confinement of a U.S. national in Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It was the first time that U.S anti-war crime legislation was used against Russians fighting in the Ukraine war.
What People Are Saying
Conspiracy theories abound on social media.
While social media site X, formerly Twitter, has added a crowd-sourced “community notes” comment section to posts in the hope of dispelling conspiracy theories, few have been added to posts about Aber to date.
James Tate, whose profile on X, formerly Twitter, states that he wants to help “save America from the Trump cult” wrote on March 23 that Aber’s death was “suspicious.”
“Jessica Aber’s death feels like one of those stories that’s meant to fade quietly into the background — a tragic headline that people are supposed to forget.”
“But when a career prosecutor who spent her life chasing Russian cybercriminals, CIA leaks, and war criminals turns up dead just weeks after resigning, forgetting isn’t an option,” he wrote.
Under the subheadline “A SUSPICIOUS EXIT” he wrote: “It’s not hard to imagine why someone like Aber might suddenly find herself in a tight spot. Trump’s return came with a wave of loyalty tests and DOJ shakeups — and Aber’s aggressive pursuit of Russian networks and CIA leaks doesn’t exactly scream ‘team player’ in this new political climate.”
X user, Tom Joseph, wrote on March 23: ” She had worked on war crimes charges against 4 Russians in the Ukraine war. It’s not known yet if this was an assassination, but obviously Putin and Trump would like to silence evidence of war crimes.”
Another X user, ADAM, who states on his Twitter profile that he is “anti-globalist,” wrote: “Did lsrael assassinate ANOTHER inconvenient US politician?
“She spent years exposing an Israeli plot to illegally bring Israelis into the U.S. with fraudulent visas.”
What Happens Next
Police are still awaiting a formal report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Aber’s cause and manner of death.
