Judge releases Trump appointee charged in Capitol riot
A federal judge has granted pretrial release to the only Trump administration appointee known to have been charged in connection with the storming of the Capitol during the certification of electoral votes on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court Judge John Bates said he was disturbed by the disloyalty to the country that the former State Department official, Federico Klein, 42, displayed by battling with police as the crowd sought to force its way inside, but the judge said that betrayal did not establish that it was too risky to let Klein out of jail as he awaits trial. The decision overturns an earlier ruling by Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, directing that Klein be kept locked up following his arrest last month.
“The fact that, as a federal employee, Klein actively participated in an assault on our democracy to thwart the peaceful transfer of power constitutes a substantial and deeply concerning breach of trust,” Bates wrote. “More so, too, because he had been entrusted by this country to handle ‘top secret’ classified information to protect the United States’ most sensitive interests.”
However, the appointee of President George W. Bush rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Klein’s role in the government made him more dangerous than others arrested for participating in the violence on Jan. 6. The decision, he said, was a “close call.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-releases-trump-appointee-charged-154659342.html
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