Five or six Secret Service agents testified before En. 6 grand jury, sources said

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About half a dozen Secret Service agents have testified before a grand jury that will decide whether to indict former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021 disturbance at the Capitol and efforts to interfere with the peaceful transition of presidency. , according to two sources familiar with their testimony.

About five or six agents appeared, the sources said, in compliance with subpoenas they had received. It is not known how close the agents were to Trump on Jan. 6 or what information they may have given the grand jury.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the events of January 6 is separate from his investigation that led to Trump’s recent indictment in Florida for handling classified documents. Sources told NBC News that about 24 Secret Service agents appeared before the grand jury that considered that case in Washington before the case was transferred to Florida.

President Donald Trump walks with Secret Service special agent Robert Engel on the South Lawn of the White House on May 17, 2019. Alex Brandon/AP

A Secret Service spokesman declined to comment.

While the exact contents of their subpoenas and appearances are unknown, Secret Service agents close to Trump on Jan. 6 may be able to confirm, deny or provide more details on a story first told by the former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson to the now-defunct January 6 congressional committee.

A year ago, Hutchinson told the committee he heard second-hand that Trump wanted Secret Service agents to drive him to the Capitol to join rioters, tried to grab the steering wheel of cars and then reached for the clavicle of the driver, Secret Service agent Bobby Engel . Trump later denied this account.

Hutchinson said he learned of the incident from Tony Ornato. Ornato took a leave of absence from the Secret Service to serve as Trump’s deputy chief of staff beginning in 2019 and then returned to the Secret Service when Trump left office. Both Engel and Ornato left the Secret Service and it is not known if they will testify before the grand jury.

Also of interest is what the agents knew and discussed leading up to and during the Capitol insurrection. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General notified Congress last year that all text messages between agents between Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, 2021, is gone. The agency said it was part of a pre-planned software upgrade. Their communications, and anything the agents may recall, could inform the grand jury about the extent to which Trump knew about the potential for violence on Jan. 6 and how he responded to threats made against Vice President Mike Pence then.

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