US Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato resigned on Monday, marking a major exit two months after explosive testimony by a former White House aide, who claimed Ornato told her then-President Donald Trump was enraged when he learned his security team would not take him to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

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Ornato confirmed his departure on Monday. He stated that he left the agency in order to seek a career in the private sector.

“I did retire today to pursue a career in the private sector. 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 told CNN in a statement.

Ornato also said that he had not worked for the former President or any of his firms. He refused to reveal the identity of his new employer, CNN reported.

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The House Select Committee probing the insurgency has stated unequivocally that it believes Ornato was a key player who could have provided significant information about Trump’s travels and intentions coming up to and on January 6.

Not only did Ornato once head Trump’s detail, but he also made the unprecedented move of joining the White House staff as the deputy chief of staff on a temporary basis in December 2019 and subsequently returning to the Secret Service to run its training programme.

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Committee members have expressed a want to talk with Ornato, according to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who serves on the panel, and he has recruited private counsel.

It’s unclear whether Ornato would testify about the allegations made by Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

To this point, Ornato has met with the panel on two occasions — in January and March — as part of its investigation, according to a source familiar with his testimony, CNN reported.

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The CNN report added that among the things Ornato discussed with the committee were Trump’s awareness of then-Vice President Mike Pence‘s whereabouts during the US Capitol attack and if Trump could have done more to encourage the rioters to settle down and leave the building.

The committee has not released Ornato’s replies to these and other queries, and members of the panel have voiced irritation with sections of his evidence, with some indicating he lacks credibility.

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Hutchinson specifically testified that Ornato informed her about Trump striking out in rage and lunging at a member of his security detail on January 6 as he requested to be transported to the Capitol.

An unnamed Secret Service official earlier told CNN that Ornato denies telling Hutchinson that the former President grasped the steering wheel of his presidential SUV or an agent on his detail.

Sources told CNN that Ornato had been eligible for retirement since earlier this summer, and he had been discussing leaving the Secret Service since before Hutchinson’s testimony.