Ed Brooks is an alias of Eugene Daniels. He was the subject of a federal investigation.
Early life
Brooks was a corporate whistleblower and went into the Witness Protection Program. He abruptly left the program with his daughter Jessie to Smallville, presumably after realizing that Ted Palmer, the US Marshal assigned to protect them, was actually seeking a reward of one million dollars in exchange for turning Mr. Brooks over to his former employer. Palmer was seeking computer disks Ed had that contained "accounting files, memos, and endless smoking guns," exposing the company's shady accounting practices.
After Agent Palmer told Clark about the evidence and reward, Clark knocked him out and tried to collect the evidence himself. He went to pick up Jessie, but demanded the disks before they left. After Agent Palmer showed up, he threatened Jessie with a gun, and Mr. Brooks shot him to protect her. When Clark was no longer infected by red kryptonite, he went back to see if the Brooks were still there, but found an empty house. It is unknown what happened to Mr. Brooks, but he is presumed alive and wanted by the FBI for the murder of Ted Palmer. The Smallville Ledger article about Ed Brooks can be read here.