Aug 29, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Secret Service official at center of Jan. 6 testimony retires

Sareen Habeshian

A text from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to Assistant Director of the United States Secret Service Anthony Ornato appears on screen at a July House hearing on Capitol Hill. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato retired Monday, the agency confirmed.

Why it matters: Ornato, who served as a political adviser to former President Trump, was two months ago at the center of testimony that a former White House aide gave to the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot.

The big picture: Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the House panel in late June that Ornato briefed her about an altercation in which Trump allegedly lunged at a Secret Service agent and grabbed at the wheel of the car when told he couldn't go to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump denied Hutchinson's account.
Ornato has testified before the committee, but the hearing was not public.

What they're saying: Ornato, who joined the Secret Service in 1997, retired "in good standing after 25 years of devoted service," said the agency's special agent Kevin Helgert in an emailed statement.

Ornato said in a statement to CNN that he retired "to pursue a career in the private sector," noting that his "faithful service to my country" included "serving the past five presidents."
"I long-planned to retire and have been planning this transition for more than a year," he added.

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Secret Service official at center of Jan. 6 testimony retires

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