Former Attorney General Bill Barr says he thinks Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle should be fired for the way she handled the fallout from Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“I would fire her simply for having poor listening skills and not coming out, being visible and saying something. Even if we don’t know the story, I think it’s still important to start discussion and transparency with the American people,” Barr told Fox News’ Jesse Watters when asked in an interview Sunday whether he would fire Cheatle.
Barr criticized the Secret Service for only informing the public about security procedures in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican National Convention (RNC) will be held this week, rather than addressing the entire situation head-on.
“The way they acted today, trying to just inform Milwaukee and not say anything about it, was so clumsy that I would fire him just for not understanding what the responsibility of government employees is to interact with the public,” he said.
Barr’s interview came a day after Trump was shot in the ear by alleged gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, who was later shot and killed by Secret Service agents. The incident occurred at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, with Trump’s ear bloodied before he was removed from the stage by security officials.
The shooting marked one of the Secret Service’s most significant security failures since former President Reagan was shot in 1981.
The FBI said Sunday that the shooter appears to have acted alone and that there was no known ideological motive behind the assassination attempt. Authorities are investigating the incident as a “potential” act of domestic terrorism.
Barr, in the Sunday interview, said he thinks the FBI should be given “a chance” to conduct the investigation, when asked to say whether he trusts “this FBI to do a clean investigation.”
“I think they should have a chance to do the investigation,” Barr said. “But I think Congress will watch every step and do its own investigation. And I think there’s a lot to investigate.”
Requests for agency investigations increased in the days following the shooting. Members of Congress pledged to launch their own investigations and hold at least one hearing into the demonstration.
Biden announced Sunday that he had ordered an independent review of security at the rally and called for cooler heads to prevail following the shocking event.
Cheatle pledged Monday to “fully participate” in the independent review.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
