WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to combine the cases against a State Department appointee of former President Donald Trump, six other defendants and two individuals who are expected to be charged soon in a new superseding indictment, according to a notice filed in federal court Thursday.
In what will be the fourth superseding indictment against at least some of the defendants, the DOJ says the evidence supports joining the cases against Federico Klein and “two presently uncharged subjects the government expects to be charged within 30 days” to those against six other men:
- Patrick McCaughey III
- Tristan Chandler Stevens
- David Lee Judd
- Christopher Joseph Quaglin
- Robert Morss
- Geoffrey William Sills
“Each of these defendants was an active participant in the first wave of rioters to enter the tunnel between 2:40 and 3:18 p.m.,” the DOJ said in its filing. “Moreover, several of the defendants, including Mr. Klein, committed additional crimes on the first landing of the Lower West Terrace before reaching the tunnel for the first time.”
The Lower West Terrace and tunnel were the sites of some of the fiercest conflicts between police and rioters. Videos released by the DOJ show rioters repeatedly engaging in coordinated assaults against the police line using metal poles, chemical irritants, stolen riot shields and other improvised weapons. The tunnel was also the location where D.C. Police Officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a doorframe – allegedly by McCaughey, among others.
On Tuesday, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) told Hodges during the first hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate January 6th that she and another member of Congress, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), were sheltering in a small office just 40 paces behind the line he and other officers were holding in the tunnel.
“The reason I was able to hug [my kids] again was because of the courage you and other officers showed that day,” Murphy said.
It was unclear from the government’s motion whether the new indictment will include new charges in addition to joining Klein and the two additional cases. The six men currently named in the indictment face as many as 13 counts each – among them assaulting and inflicting bodily harm on federal officers with a dangerous weapon, civil disorder, robbery and obstruction of an official proceeding. Klein, who is currently on pretrial release, is facing similar charges. If convicted, the men could each potentially face decades in prison.
The Justice Department indicated the new indictment could come within the next 30 days, and also that – although there are “potentially dozens of additional individuals” who could be joined in the indictment – it does not expect to add more defendants to the case.
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