Lawyer for man charged in Capitol riot says he worked for the FBI, had top-secret security clearance

The pro-Trump mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
(Image credit: Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

An attorney for Thomas Caldwell, a Virginia resident accused of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, said on Monday that his client is a Navy veteran who has had a top-secret security clearance since 1979, worked as an FBI section chief from 2009 to 2010, and ran a consulting firm that did classified work for the U.S. government.

Caldwell's lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, wrote about his work history in a motion filed on Monday, which stated that because Caldwell has "been vetted and found numerous times as a person worthy of the trust and confidence of the United States government," he should be released from jail as he waits for his trial to start.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.