Anthony Ornato, the Secret Service official at the center of a hotly debated rumor about former President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, has retired.
Secret Service Special Agent Kevin Helgert confirmed to The Daily Wire on Tuesday that Ornato retired from the U.S. Secret Service on Monday “in good standing after 25 years of devoted service.”
“I did retire today to pursue a career in the private sector,” Ornato confirmed to multiple outlets. “I retired from the U.S. Secret Service after more than 25 years of faithful service to my country, including serving the past five presidents. I long-planned to retire and have been planning this transition for more than a year.”
Ornato would not tell CNN who his new employer was but said he would not be working for Trump or any of Trump’s agencies.
“I plan to continue cooperating with the DHS OIG’s investigation,” Ornato told the publication. “My counsel have been in touch with the OIG, and they discussed but have not yet settled on a mutually convenient date for us to speak.”
Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a White House aide during the Trump administration, testified before the January 6 committee earlier this summer that Ornato had told her that an angry Trump “lunged” toward the head of his detail when agents refused to drive him to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
UNITED STATES – JUNE 28: Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testifies on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
She also claimed that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of the limousine and that the lead of the security detail, Bobby Engel, told him, “Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.” At that point, Hutchinson claimed she was told that Trump allegedly lunged at the agent and assaulted him.
CNN reported in late June that a Secret Service official said Ornato disputes Hutchinson’s story — and that both Ornato and Engel are willing to deny the story. ABC also reported that the Secret Service is prepared to deny the story. The federal agency insists that it will share its “first hand account with the Committee, on the record.”
“It’s not appropriate for us to make these comments in the media before we have a chance to address members of Congress,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service chief of communications, told The Daily Wire in late June.