A critical witness on January 6 retired from the Secret Service

The Secret Service agent who worked in the Trump White House and was at the center of the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol retired from the agency on Monday.

Kevin Helgert, Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service, confirmed the executive authority that Tony Ornato retired from the agency “in good standing after 25 years of dedicated service.” Ornato ran President Trump’s security department, then took a leave of absence from the agency to serve as the White House’s deputy chief of staff for operations in late 2019. He then returned to the Secret Service when Biden stepped into position where he served as Assistant Director in the Office of Training. He came under intense scrutiny in June after former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified before a House committee on Jan. 6.

“The position of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations is perhaps one of the most important positions anyone can hold. They are responsible for all campus security protocols and all presidential proteges, primarily the president and the first family,” Hutchinson testified before the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “But anything that requires security for any a person who has presidential protection, so the chief of staff or the national security adviser, and the vice president’s team as well, Tony will be watching all of this. And he was the conduit for security protocol between the White House staff and the United States Secret Service.

She also testified that Ornato told her that he had passed on information to the president about the presence of guns at the Trump rally on the morning of January 6, 2021. Hutchinson said that at a meeting on January 4, 2021, Ornato came in and said “that we had intelligence reports that there was a possibility of violence on the 6th;” and that Ornato told her that Trump was getting “angry” and trying to grab the steering wheel of his presidential car while demanding to be driven to the Capitol on January 6 .

There were reports that Ornato was contesting the car accident charges, but on July 5th Inside man story two former White House officials said “Ornato has a history of lying about Trump.”

Shortly after Hutchinson’s testimony, the Homeland Security inspector general told Congress that text messages from Secret Service agents around the time of the Capitol attack had been deleted. The Secret Service said the messages were lost as part of a pre-planned data migration and there was no malicious intent. A firestorm ensued over allegations of wrongdoing by the DHS IG’s office. IG Joseph Kuffari defended his stance on the reports. In addition, it was later revealed that text messages from senior DHS and DOD officials from the Trump administration were also missing.

According to The interception, Ornato agreed to an interview with the DHS IG’s office on Aug. 31, as the office had been trying to interview him since June 29, the day after Hutchinson’s testimony. Ornato indicated that he still intended to attend the interview, according to an email obtained by the interception, but because Ornato will be a private citizen, investigators will not have subpoena power to compel him to cooperate,” the report said.

In two statements last month, the Secret Service said it cooperated fully with the House Committee and the DHS IG.

Nick Schulenbach, a senior investigator at the Project on Government Oversight who made many of these allegations about the DHS IG, accused the DHS IG of taking too long to seek an interview with Ornato. While Ornato can still cooperate with the IG’s office on a voluntary basis, he can refuse to answer certain questions, Schulenbach said executive authority in Tuesday.

“While a career Secret Service agent, he was required as a condition of his government employment to cooperate fully with federal investigators,” he said. “The DHS inspector general missed a huge opportunity to interview Ornato on favorable terms, if at all.”

Schwellenbach also said this situation could increase support for previously introduced legislation it would give all IGs the power to subpoena former federal employees for personal testimony.

Meanwhile, the House committee investigating Jan. 6 could subpoena him if he doesn’t volunteer, Schulenbach said. Ornato already met with the committee in January and March, according to CNN.

executive authority asked the DHS IG’s office for comment on Ornato’s departure and what, if anything, it means for its investigations, and asked the office to respond to criticism that it should have interviewed Ornato sooner.

“To maintain the integrity of our work and in accordance with federal guidelines, the DHS OIG does not comment on ongoing reviews,” a DHS IG spokesperson said. “Similarly, we do not confirm the existence of or comment on criminal investigations.”

A spokesman for the Jan. 6 House committee declined to comment on questions about Ornato’s departure and what it means for the committee’s investigation.

Ornato is taking a role in the private sector and will not work for Trump or any of his companies, CNN reported. The Ornato news comes after Biden announced his pick for the new Secret Service director last Wednesday. Outgoing director James Murray had been known for some time to leave, but he delayed his exit amid the investigation into the text message situation.