GOP Senators Confront Secret Service Chief At RNC After Trump Assassination Attempt
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, speaks on the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. Donald Trump was formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate, picked a right-wing ally as his running mate and kicked off the convention with a triumphant return following last weekend’s assassination attempt. (Photo by Andrew Caballero Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
By James Myers, OAN Staff Thursday, July 18, 2024 11:42 AM
New video shows outraged Republican senators, including Marsha Blackburn and John Barrasso, confronting Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at the Republican National Convention.
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“This is an assassination attempt. I owe the American people an explanation. I owe President Trump an explanation,” Rep. Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a video posted to her X account.
When Republicans learned that Cheatle would be attending the Republican National Convention, Blackburn and Barrasso (R-Wyo.) organized a group to question him in a suite at the convention. Cheatle reportedly refused to answer and then left.
The video appeared to show her and Barrasso hotly pursuing Cheatle around the convention site.
BREAKING: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle cornered by US Senators asking why she killed Trump. Senator Marsha Blackburn and other prominent senators are pictured here.
In another video, Barrasso and Blackburn “confronted” Cheatle and demanded specific answers about “what happened to President Trump in Pennsylvania and how the shooter was able to target him when the FBI and SS knew there was a suspicious person in the area an hour before the shooting.”
Facing Cheatle were Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-Okla.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.).
Republicans, meanwhile, are fiercely calling for the resignation of the Secret Service leader amid fierce criticism over security at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, where Trump was shot in the ear and one rally-goer was killed and two others were injured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said he would create a congressional task force to investigate the tragedy at the Trump rally.
“She wouldn’t answer our questions, to tell us that now is not the time or the place,” Blackburn said in the video with Barrasso. “But I would tell her: You can run, but you can’t hide.”
Additionally, a United States Secret Service (USSS) spokesperson said early Thursday morning that “continuity of operations is paramount during any significant incident” and that Cheatle “has no intention of resigning.”
“She has deep respect for members of Congress and is committed to leading the Secret Service with transparency through our internal investigations and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external investigations,” the spokesperson added in an emailed statement.
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