FBI has reportedly arrested Federico Klein, a former State Department aide, on charges related to the storming of the Capitol on January 6. This makes him the first person, who was an appointee of President Donald Trump to face criminal prosecution for inciting riots and in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's victory.
According to Politico, Klein, 42, was taken into custody in Virginia on Thursday night. However, Samantha Shero, a spokesperson for the FBI's Washington DC field office, did not specify on what charges he had been booked. Klien's arrest once again proves how Trump's blind supporters made a planned move to overturn the election results on January 6.
A Long Association
Klein was personally appointed by Trump for his 2016 Presidential campaign. While working for his 2016 presidential campaign Klein earned a salary of $15,000, according to a public database of executive branch personnel. He was paid an additional $5,000 by the campaign in 2017, according to the FEC records show. He was among the several campaign aides who ended up with positions in the administration.
Days after Trump's inauguration as the President, Klein joined the State Department in 2017, where he worked as was a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He made an annual salary of $66,510.
Interestingly, an individual by the same name also worked for a short period on Capitol Hill about two decades ago, for the House Small Business Committee and as an intern for Sen. George Allen (R-Va.). It's not know if it Klein, who then should have been in his early 20s.
Arrested at Last
Prior to his association with Trump, Klein was a researcher at the Famly Research Council, and a legislative aide for Loudon County. He had also served as a Marine in Iraq and held a top-secret clearance from 2014 to 2019, issued by the Defense Department, according to his LinkedIn page.
The alleged presence of a Trump political appointee at the riot is surely going to tie the events that unfolded on January 6 more closely to Trump now. There has already been enough evidence that the attempted Capitol Building siege was instigated by Trump's false claims that the there was widespread election fraud. And Klein's arrest will only make things more evident.
Police didn't say how they zeroed in on Klein and what his exact role was during the January 6 Capitol riot, but it is almost certain that he was in Washington DC on that day. In a telephonic interview to Pilitico on Thursday, Klein's mother, Cecilia, said that she and her son discussed the January 6 events a few weeks ago and that he confirmed he had been in Washington that day.
"As far as I know, he was on the Mall. That's what he told me," Cecilia Klein said. However, she said that despite the lengthy conversation she had the impression that her son had not entered the Capitol, but she could not recall whether he specifically denied that. "I'm not sure he used those words," she said.
So far, over 300 people have been charged in federal court for events related to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
