The Secret Service agent, one Anthony Ornato, who sat at the crux of the still hotly debated rumor concerning former President Donald Trump’s response and actions on the 16th of January, 2021, has officially gone into retirement.
It has been officially confirmed as of this past Tuesday by Secret Service Special Agent Kevin Helgert that Ornato has retired from his work with the U.S. Secret Service as of Monday “in good standing after 25 years of devoted service.”
“I did retire today to pursue a career in the private sector,” Ornato then confirmed via multiple different 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 refused to tell CNN just who his new employer was going to be but he did state that he would not be working for Trump or any agency controlled by Trump.
“I plan to continue cooperating with the DHS OIG’s investigation,” explained Ornato to the outlet. “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.”
After serving as an aide within the White House during the Trump administration, Cassidy Hutchinson chose to testify before the January 6 committee near the start of this past summer that Ornato had said to her that an irate Trump “lunged” at the head of his detail when the agents refused to take him over to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
She also issued the claim tha Trump himself attempted to forcefully take control of the steering wheel of their limousine and that the head of the security detail, Bobby Engel, had to force him back and tell him, “Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.” At which point, Hutchinson stated that she was told that Trump then dove at the agent and assaulted him.
Back in late June, CNN issued a report that stated that one Secret Service official has stated that Ornato disputes the claims coming from Hutchinson — along with the fact that both Engel and Oranto would be willing to testify in denying the story. It was also reported by ABC that the Secret Service itself is ready to deny the story as well. The federal agency has been quite insistent 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,” explained the Secret Service chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi.