Trump assassination attempt was biggest Secret Service failure in decades, director says
- Kimberly Cheatle admitted to Congress that she and her agency failed when a would-be assassin wounded Trump at a campaign rally
Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly angering lawmakers by evading questions about the investigation during the first hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt. Cheatle called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, and vowed to “move heaven and Earth” to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make sure there’s no repeat of it.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” she told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. She also revealed that the roof from which Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally. Cheatle said she apologised to Trump in a phone call after the assassination attempt.
Yet Cheatle remained defiant that she was the “right person” to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she takes full responsibility for the security lapses. When Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Cheatle responded: “No, thank you.”
In a rare moment of unity for the often divided committee, the Republican chairman, congressman James Comer, and its top Democrat, congressman Jamie Raskin, issued a letter calling on Cheatle to step down.
