The Daily Beast
Criminal ComplaintA Trump appointee who was still employed at the State Department when he allegedly bashed police at the U.S. Capitol with a riot shield and egged on a crowd of insurrections has been arrested for his role on Jan. 6.Federico Klein, a 42-year-old State Department staff assistant, is facing a slew of charges for his role in the Capitol riots, including unlawful entry and assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint first obtained by the New York Times. Prosecutors allege Klein, who also worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, allegedly “physically and verbally engaged with the officers holding the line” before assaulting one law enforcer with a riot shield—and using that stolen police equipment to wedge a door into the Capitol to allow insurrectionists inside. “We need fresh people, need fresh people!” Klein, who is wearing a red MAGA hat, is heard yelling in a YouTube video to others storming the building—as police strained to hold back the crowd. Criminal Complaint ‘It’s Not Fair!’: Rioter Who Posed at Pelosi’s Desk Loses It in CourtKlein’s arrest Thursday night in Virginia was first reported by Politico, marking the first member of the Trump administration to face charges in connection to the deadly siege meant to stop the electoral certification of President Joe Biden’s presidency. More than 300 people have been charged in connection with the storming of the Capitol that followed a speech by Trump where he flogged the false claim that he had won the November 2020 election, including dozens of extremists who allegedly planned and coordinated the attack for months. Criminal Complaint According to the complaint, Klein was identified by people who saw the FBI social-media campaign with photos of rioters at the Capitol. The FBI also noted that he still had top-secret clearance for his work in the office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs until his resignation on Jan. 19.Another tipster flagged Klein's Facebook account to federal authorities, which was under the name “Freddie Klein,” according to the document. On Klein’s Facebook page, the former State Department aide is seen photographed among a group covered in MAGA gear—and in another enjoying several Miller High Lifes with another individual. According to a ProPublica database of Trump appointees, Klein worked as a special assistant in the Office of Brazilian and Southern Cone Affairs after joining the State Department on Jan. 22, 2017, where he was paid $66,510.A Linkedin profile identified as Klein’s also states he has been politically active in the Republican Party since at least 2008, when he began volunteering for campaigns. Klein worked for the Trump campaign just prior to going to work for the State Department. Klein’s mother, Cecilia Klein, told Politico that her son had admitted to being in D.C. on Jan. 6—but told her that he was only “was on the Mall. That’s what he told me.”“Fred’s politics burn a little hot... but I’ve never known him to violate the law.… While I believe, as he said, he was on the Mall that day, I don’t have any evidence, nor will I ever ask him, unless he tells me, where he was after he was on the Mall,” she added.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.