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A former State Department aide appointed by former President Donald Trump has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies related to the deadly U.S. Capitol riot on January 6.
Federico G. Klein, 42, a staff assistant at the State Dept. who previously worked for the Trump campaign, was arrested Thursday. He was still employed at the State Department when he allegedly entered the Capitol with the pro-Trump mob.
He “physically and verbally engaged” officers, and “violently shoved [a riot] shield into an officer’s body in an attempt to breach the police line” according to FBI documents obtained by The New York Times. Klein, who federal officials identified as a white man, is pictured in FBI documents wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap.
This the first known Trump appointee linked directly to the insurrection to be arrested. At least one Republican lawmaker has resigned after being arrested for joining the riot. More than a dozen other GOP state lawmakers were there with pro-Trump crowds on the Capitol grounds that day.
Klein started his role under the Trump administration on January 23, 2017, days after the former president took office. He worked as a special assistant in the State Dept. Office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs.
Klein resigned from his position on January 19, 2021, a day before President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the FBI said.
