Anthony Ornato’s name came up during the Jan 6 hearings today, which are being conducted to determine whether then-president Donald Trump was responsible for the Capitol Hill riots. The longstanding Secret Service agent was in charge of White House security operations for part of Trump’s tenure, and his secondhand account was narrated by Cassidy Hutchinson, the surprise witness at today’s hearing. 

Ornato told Hutchinson that Robert Engel, the Secret Service agent in charge on Jan 6 2021, repeatedly told Trump that it wasn’t safe for him to go to the Capitol after the Ellipse speech. Hutchinson continued in her testimony that this enraged the then-president so much that Trump lunged at the wheel of the limo and said that he was the “f**king president”, demanding to be driven to the Capitol. 

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As per Ornato, Hutchinson testified, Trump also used his other hand to “lunge” at Engel. 

Hutchinson’s testimony also included the fact that Ornato had informed Trump about Jan 6 rioters carrying weapons. 

Ornato was appointed as the White House chief of operations after Dan Walsh became one in the long line of people who quit during Trump’s tenure. He joined the Secret Service in 1997 and has served under presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. 

Several White House aides have already reported to the Jan 6 committee that Trump had expressed a desire to drive to the Capitol and accompany those attending the rally. However, his lawyers urged him against the move, since it would have opened up the then-president to numerous criminal charges, including that of starting a riot. 

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While Engel, the Secret Service agent in charge that day, didn’t appear before the Jan 6 hearing committee, he’s already told the Congress about differing with Trump over whether the presidential motorcade should have driven to the Capitol, Politico reported. Ultimately, they went to the White House.