Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) blasted Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Monday investigating the recent assassination attempt on former President Trump.
“You’ve been lying today. You’ve been completely dishonest,” Mace told Cheatle.
Mace asked Cheatle whether he had provided all audio and video recordings in his possession to the House Oversight Committee, as the committee had requested, and Cheatle told Mace he would get back to him later to answer that question.
Her comments drew backlash from the other side.
“There has to be civility on this committee,” said Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.).
Mace had been the most aggressive questioner among the committee members up to that point, reflecting frustration among the committee members over the lack of concrete answers from Cheatle about the shooting.
“These are important questions the American people want answers to and you’re avoiding them and just speaking in generalities,” Mace said.
A shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month left President Trump injured, one rally attendee dead and two others seriously injured.
Mace also accused Cheatle of “leaking” his opening statement to various media outlets before the hearing and asked if that action was political. Cheatle responded that he had no knowledge of how his statement was leaked.
“That’s bullshit,” Mace said.
It is standard practice for the lead witness at a congressional hearing to distribute prepared opening statements to the press ahead of the hearing, but members of the Oversight Committee expressed frustration that they did not receive her opening statement in advance.
Early in his questioning, Mace noted widespread calls for Cheatle to resign.
“May I use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter, or not?” Mace asked.
“Fine,” Cheatle replied.
