Anthony Ornato, a top Secret Service official embroiled in the January 6 investigation, retired today, just two days before his planned interview with January 6 investigators. The Intercept obtained an email Ornato sent to the deputy director of the Secret Service just after 1 p.m., announcing his retirement as of the close of business on August 29.
Ornato had finally agreed to an interview with Department of Homeland Security investigators on August 31 after multiple attempts to arrange one. According to a memo sent by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General to the head of the Secret Service, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and DHS General Counsel, the inspector general had been attempting to interview Ornato since June 29 and spent all of July and much of August following up.
Ornato had indicated he still intends to attend the interview, according to an email obtained by The Intercept, but since Ornato will be a private citizen, investigators won’t have testimonial subpoena authority to compel his cooperation.
Ornato was a longtime Secret Service agent before President Trump took the unprecedented action of appointing him to a White House position as deputy chief of staff for operations. Congress had also sent document preservation requests to Secret Service.
The Intercept reported in July that the Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2022 after they were requested by oversight officials.
He may have played a key role in the insurrection at the Capitol. He may have played a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. On January 6, Ornato reportedly sought to relocate Vice President Mike Pence to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, which could have delayed the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
According to explosive testimony from Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to the congressional Jan. 6 committee, Ornato told her he was in the car with Trump when the president demanded to be driven to the Capitol, against advice, and allegedly lunged for the steering wheel.
Ornato has reportedly met with the January 6th committee twice, in both January and March, as part of its investigation, discussing President Trump’s knowledge of Vice President Mike Pence’s location during the unrest on January 6th.
After President Joe Biden entered the White House, Ornato was moved to assistant director of the U.S. Secret Service’s office of training.
This is a developing story.
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