U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on July 22, 2024. The agency’s beleaguered leader pledged cooperation with all investigations into the attempted assassination of the former president donald trump, although members of Congress from both parties have called for his resignation. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Congressional Lawmakers on Both Sides of the Aisle Reprimanded US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday about the agency’s failures to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump, urging her to resign amid dissatisfaction with her testimony.
Nine days since a 20-year-old gunman killed one rally attendee and injured two others with an AR-15-style rifle at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a series of bipartisan investigations and actions have emerged in an attempt to reach the end of the shooting that nearly killed the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential candidate. The shooter was killed at the scene.
“The Secret Service has a zero-failure mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally,” said Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, in an opening statement to the long hearing. of the panel on the assassination attempt.
Therefore, the notion of a report being published within 60 days when the threat environment is so heightened in the United States – regardless of party – is not acceptable.
– Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York
“The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but now it has become the face of incompetence,” said Comer, a Kentucky Republican.
Cheatle, who later testified Eating intimated hersaid the assassination attempt is “the Secret Service’s most significant operational failure in decades” and acknowledged that it has assumed, and will continue to assume, responsibilities.
“I am responsible for leading the agency and finding the answers about how this event occurred and ensuring it does not happen again,” she added.
Both critical parties to the questioning
Republicans and Democrats alike expressed extreme dissatisfaction with Cheatle’s responses, with Comer and Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland calling on Cheatle to resign in a joint letter after the hearing.
The two said Cheatle “failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding this stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and has begun to correct its errors and systemic failures.”
Lawmakers grilled Cheatle about how the shooter was able to carry out the attack and access the rooftop where he conducted the shooting, how Trump was allowed on stage with a “suspicious person” being identified and why she has not yet resigned from office.
“Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive – and thank God he is – you look incompetent. If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked guilty,” said Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, who chairs the U.S. House Intelligence Committee.
Chettle’s testimony
During the hearing, Cheatle noted that he was answering questions he is capable of answering “based on the fact that there are multiple investigations underway.”
However, during the hearing, Cheatle revealed that the Secret Service was alerted “between two and five times” about a “suspicious individual” before the shooting.
“You are full of shit today. You are being completely dishonest,” said Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina, as she asked Cheatle a series of “yes” or “no” questions, including whether this was a “colossal failure.”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico, said Cheatle’s responses were “completely unsatisfactory.”
“How could this happen? … We need answers not only for the family members of the gentleman who was killed and for those who were injured, but we need answers for our democracy, because, as others have stated here today, we are in a highly politically charged environment right now,” she said.
Rep. Byron Donalds was among numerous lawmakers who called for Cheatle’s resignation, saying, “You need to be fired immediately, and that’s because this is gross incompetence.”
“This is a joke, and director, you’re in charge and that’s why you need to go,” said Donalds, a Florida Republican.
Republican Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan also expressed her frustration with Cheatle’s responses.
“If you’re going to lead, you have to lead,” McClain said. “If you want to be in charge, answer the question or step aside and have someone with the courage and courage answer the American people the questions they deserve answers to.”
Cheatle also came under fire after saying they intended an internal investigation to be completed within 60 days – a timeline that did not sit well with the committee.
Cheatle pointed to a series of investigations by the Office of Inspector General and that the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation remains ongoing while the agency conducted its own internal investigation.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, noted that the November elections are just over 100 days away.
“So the idea of a report being published within 60 days when the threat environment is so heightened in the United States – regardless of party – is not acceptable,” she said.
More investigations
On Monday, members of the US House Homeland Security Committee, led by Chairman Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee, visited the rally site. The committee also plans to hold a hearing on the assassination attempt in Washington on Tuesday.
Need to get in touch?
Do you have any new tips?
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, whose district includes Butler, was also in attendance.
A proposal, sent by Kellyto establish a task force on the assassination attempt is set for a vote on the House floor this week.
It would “fully investigate and examine all actions of any agency, department, officer or employee of the federal government, as well as state and local authorities or any other state or local government or private entities or individuals” related to the assassination attempt.
The task force would also issue a final report on its findings by December 13.
Separately, President Joe Biden asked the US Department of Homeland Security to launch an “independent security review” of the assassination attempt, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday appointed a bipartisan panel to conduct a “45-day independent review” of the actions of the agency and state and local authorities before, during and after the assassination rally. July 13 .
GET THE MORNING NEWS DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The post Secret Service Director Faces Growing Calls to Resign After Trump Assassination Attempt appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
