U.S. Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Federico Klein, a Trump-appointed official, was seen on video pushing against officers in the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel. | Jose Luis Magana/AP

By Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein

11/03/2023 04:38 PM EDT

A former Trump administration State Department official has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for joining the violent Jan. 6 mob that pummeled police officers in the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel.

Federico Klein, a Trump-appointed official involved in U.S. foreign policy toward South America until Trump left office, was seen on video pushing against beleaguered and outnumbered officers during an hourslong confrontation that was among the most violent episodes of the day. His sentence closes one of the earliest chapters in the investigation of the Jan. 6 attack, beginning with his arrest in March 2021.

Judge Trevor McFadden, one of four Trump-appointed federal district court judges in Washington, D.C., issued the sentence Friday after having previously pronounced Klein — a former marine — guilty during a two-week bench trial alongside another defendant who assaulted officers in the tunnel. McFadden convicted Klein of 12 charges, including six counts of assaulting or impeding officers, obstructing Congress’ Jan. 6 proceeding and interfering with officers during a civil disorder.

McFadden, in finding Klein guilty, emphasized that Klein had repeatedly told associates that he was...

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