Political aide arrested by FBI for allegedly playing a role in US insurrection
POLICE officers, veterans and even a former FBI employee have been arrested for allegedly storming the US Capitol on January 6. Federal investigators have also added a Trump administration official to the growing list of defendants facing charges following the deadly riot.
The FBI arrested a political appointee of former president Donald Trump, according to a criminal complaint, marking the first member of the administration arrested in connection with the insurrection.
Federal agents arrested Federico G Klein (42), a former State Department aide, on multiple felony charges related to the Capitol riot, according to a criminal complaint published by The New York Times. The State Department and Mr Klein did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr Klein was still employed at the State Department as a staff assistant on January 6 when he joined a mob in the a tunnel leading into the US Capitol, the FBI said.
He allegedly “physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line” at the building’s entrance, according to the complaint. After ignoring officers’ orders to move back, he assaulted officers with a riot shield that had been stolen from police, the complaint said, and then used the shield to wedge open a door into the Capitol.
At one point, Mr Klein was caught on video shouting for more insurrectionists to come to the front lines, where officers were struggling to hold back the mob.
“We need fresh people, need fresh people,” he said, according to the complaint.
Mr Klein’s arrest is the most direct link yet between the Trump administration and the rioters, despite attempts by some conservatives to dissociate the insurrection from the former president.
Many of the 300-plus people who have been charged in connection with the insurrection have described themselves as Trump supporters.
Mr Klein had a top-secret security clearance that was renewed in 2019, the FBI said. A LinkedIn profile the FBI identified as Mr Klein’s
also lists a top-secret security clearance and shows that he has been politically active in the Republican Party since at least 2008, when he began volunteering for political campaigns. Before joining the State Department in 2017, Mr Klein worked for the Trump campaign.
According to a financial disclosure form filed by Mr Klein, he was appointed as a staff assistant in the State Department on January 22, 2017, days after Mr Trump was sworn in as president.
He worked as a special assistant in the Office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs, according to a database of Trump appointees and the criminal complaint.
‘Fred’s politics burn a little hot,’ Mr Klein’s mother said
After the insurrection, Mr Klein continued working in the State Department until January 19, when he resigned the day before Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The Trump appointee faces several felony charges for his alleged role in the riot, including knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds.
Mr Klein’s mother, Cecilia Klein, told Politico that her son had admitted to being in Washington on January 6 but said he did not specify whether he had entered the Capitol building.
“Fred’s politics burn a little hot,” she said, “but I’ve never known him to violate the law.” (© Washington Post)