On Monday, POLITICO reported that Tony Ornato, the Trump-appointed senior Secret Service official who has faced intense scrutiny from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is retiring.
"The agency confirmed Ornato’s retirement, which was announced internally earlier in the day," reported Kyle Cheney. "He’s the latest high-level official in the Secret Service to announce his departure in recent weeks. Spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said Ornato — who joined the Secret Service in 1997 — became eligible for retirement earlier this year and leaves the agency in good standing."
"Ornato’s role in the Trump White House made national headlines after explosive testimony by former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who said he had briefed Trump and other White House officials about armed elements within Trump’s rally crowd on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021," said the report. "Although Ornato quickly signaled he was willing to testify in response to Hutchinson’s account, he has yet to appear for a new interview with the select committee, according to two people familiar with the discussions."
Ornato previously disputed a number of claims in Hutchinson's testimony, among them her claim that Trump lunged at his driver and tried to seize the wheel after being told he could not go to the Capitol to join the mob.
"Ornato’s departure comes shortly after the director of the Secret Service, James Murray, announced his own intention to retire but put it on hold amid expanding investigations into the agency’s conduct in the days surrounding the Capitol attack," noted the report. "The Department of Homeland Security inspector general is investigating the deletion of thousands of text messages by dozens of officials as part of what the agency has described as a phone upgrade. Those missing messages include those sent on and around Jan. 6."
Other officials in DHS also face scrutiny over missing text messages, including former DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and former acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli.
