Trump appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot - POLITICO
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Insurrection Fallout
Trump appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot
Federico Klein, a former State Department aide, was picked up Thursday on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 takeover of Congress.
Rioters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. | John Minchillo, File/AP
The FBI on Thursday arrested Federico Klein, a former State Department aide, on charges related to the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, marking the first known instance of an appointee of President Donald Trump facing criminal prosecution in connection with the attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory.
Klein, 42, was taken into custody in Virginia, said Samantha Shero, a spokesperson for the FBI's Washington Field Office.
An FBI lookout bulletin issued two weeks after the Capitol assault included a photo of Klein, prompting two tipsters to contact the FBI and finger him as the man in that picture, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Washington.
The affidavit says video from police body-worn cameras on Jan. 6 shows Klein jamming a riot shield into doors at the Capitol as police were trying to secure them to keep the mob out. Klein was also heard on video trying to encourage others to clash with the police, the complaint says.
"We need fresh people, we need fresh people," Klein shouted repeatedly, according to the complaint. In much of the video, he is wearing the Trump campaign's trademark "Make America Great Again" red hat.
Klein is charged with several felonies, including assault on police officers, interfering with police during civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding, as well as lesser offenses.
Klein worked on Trump's 2016 campaign and was then hired at the State Department. As of last summer, he was listed in a federal directory as serving as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and was designated as a "Schedule C" political appointee.
A Department spokesperson confirmed that position Friday morning, saying Klein resigned effective Jan. 21, 2021. She also said Klein started out at the department as a staff assistant with the Trump transition team.
According to a former colleague who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Klein worked for a time in the State Department's Office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs before being transferred to the office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests.
On Trump's 2016 campaign, Klein — also known as Freddie — worked as a "tech analyst," according to Federal Election Commission records. He earned $15,000 there, according to a financial disclosure he filed when he joined the State Department. He was paid an additional $5,000 by the campaign in 2017, the FEC filings show.
POLITICO
Tags
Who is online
462 visitors
The investigation is reaching higher towards Trump!
I'm guessing this guy is going to be looking for a presidential pardon..... Sucks to be him then.
I personally hope they throw the proverbial book at him and lock him away for a while!
Only one??
I expected a whole squadron.
I think it's just scratching the surface with this guy - the tip of the iceberg possibly?
That video is obviously a deep fake created by the deep state! Fake News! Fake News! Benghazi! Hillary's emails! Birth certificate! I was only stopping someone else from doing something bad. /s
These fuckers are lucky they can't be sent to Gitmo.
Why can't they be sent to Gitmo? I would prefer Devil's and/or Anthrax Islands though.
Oh come on, it's obvious that the Steelers fan and the Redskin fan are holding him there against his will...
he's even facing the wrong way /s
He's attempting to alert the authorities . . . .
Common that is a Saints fan. Get your teams straight!