Federico Klein, who lives in the DC area and joins Freddie, is the first known political appointment of Trump administration arrested for taking part in the siege. Federal authorities noted that Klein, who was also a former Trump campaigner, had a top-level security clearance at the time of the riot and resigned from the State Department at the end of the government.
Investigators found several images of Klein in the riot that allegedly used a riot shield from police to wedge an entrance for rioters and fight a police line for several minutes, according to his statement. Klein wore a “Make America Great Again” red hat and then turned into a “United States Marine Corps” hat during the riot, investigators say.
Klein is charged with six criminal charges, including assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, violently entering the Capitol site and obstructing law enforcement and Congress. About 300 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the siege.
He will be held in jail at least until March 9, when a longer trial will take place for the judge to hear the prosecutors’ arguments to keep him in custody and Klein’s answers by his lawyers.
“It’s really impossible to do anything for myself at this point,” Klein said during his first appearance in court when the court discussed appointing a lawyer. He was represented in court by a public defender on Friday.
“I wonder if there is a place where I can stay in detention where cockroaches are not crawling all over me while I try to sleep,” Klein also told Judge Zia Faruqui. “I have not slept at all, your honor.”
Faruqui told Klein he is only in a temporary detention and will be relocated.
According to the arrest from 2017 to 2021, Klein worked at the state department in the office of Brazilian and southern cone matters. At one point, he moved from that office in the Western Hemisphere to the Freedom of Information Act, which processes the reports of public records received by the department, according to several sources familiar with his work.
He also helped with the department’s transition team, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Friday.
He was paid nearly $ 13,000 by the Trump campaign in 2016, according to the Federal Electoral Commission’s campaign funding.
The State Department said on Friday that his resignation took effect on January 21 – the typical departure date for the Trump administration, which is set to end Trump’s presidency.
Tipsters and witnesses finally identified Klein to the FBI after his resignation from the state, after his image appeared on a law enforcement poster seeking information about unknown rioters. In mid-February, a former associate of Klein at the State Department spoke to the FBI and a special agent of the department’s diplomatic security and further identified himself on photos of the siege, according to his arrest record.
A State Department spokesman referred questions about Klein’s case to the Justice Department, which is prosecuting him.
The lack of response by the State Department in the days after the uprising was noticeable, even under the Trump cabinet.
Mike Pompeo, then Secretary of State, used Twitter after the riot to condemn rioters who overpowered and injured police, broke into the Capitol and occupied the Senate chamber, while lawmakers voted for the election of Pres. Joe Biden’s election victory formally wanted to mark. finger to Trump for encouraging the rioters, and trying to praise the president’s performance history during his last days in office.
“Look, what happened that day was terrible, and I have said repeatedly that those who take part in this activity must be identified, prosecuted, and that they are criminals and should be treated as such,” Pompeo told Hugh Hewitt said. conservative radio host. “But history will reflect on the good work that this president and our government have done.”
CNN’s Christina Carrega and Mary Kay Mallonee contributed to this report.