Lawmakers grilled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for more than four hours at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Monday following a stunning security blunder by her agency at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.
Suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, perched on the roof of a building and opened fire, wounding former President Donald Trump in the ear, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore and wounding two other bystanders.
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, lawmakers from both parties called for Cheatle’s resignation. Here are some key takeaways from the hearing:
Timeline: Trump assassination attempt
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)
1. Cheatle pleads guilty to assassination attempt
Cheatle acknowledged that the assassination attempt on Trump was a massive security failure.
“On July 13th, we failed,” she told the committee. “As Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security failures at our agency.”
Cheatle called it “the most serious operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” and vowed to “move heaven and earth” to find out what went wrong.
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Nancy Mace, MSP, asked the director of the US Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who is testifying before the House of Commons Oversight and Accountability Committee. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
2. Lawmakers insist on “sloping roof” excuse
Mr Cheatle was questioned about his earlier claim that the roof where Mr Crooks fired the shot was sloped and therefore unoccupied during the rally.
“I should have been clearer in my interview when I talked about staffing. All I can say is that there were plans to do surveillance, and we were still working out who would do it, the responsibility,” she said — protection against snipers on the rooftop. “The Secret Service in general, we’re not talking about this incident specifically, but when we do surveillance, whether it’s countersniper or some other technology, we want the rooftop to be sterile.”
Cheatle did not explain why investigators were not stationed on the roof.
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Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) questioned U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle as she testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.)
3. Why was Trump able to get on stage?
Under intense questioning, Cheatle admitted that local police had seen Crooks with a rangefinder and that the Secret Service had received at least two reports of a suspicious person. Local police even took a photograph of the long-haired shooter.
But Cheatle argued that the Secret Service would never have allowed Trump on stage if they had known there was a “real threat.”
She also praised the agents who surrounded the Republican presidential candidate after shots rang out.
“I give an A to the agents and officers who selflessly put themselves in front of the president and neutralized the threat. I think an investigation needs to take place into the events that led up to that day,” she said.
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
4. Lawmakers frustrated by lack of answers
Several lawmakers expressed frustration with Cheatle’s vague responses, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was especially frustrated after learning the final report in the case wouldn’t be released for another two months.
“This is about the safety of some of the most sought-after and most valued targets in the United States and abroad,” Ocasio-Cortez told Cheatle, “so the idea that the report would be completed within 60 days, much less before any actionable decisions can be made, is simply unacceptable.”
Rep. Nancy Mace asked Cheatle whether he had turned over all of the audio and video recordings as requested by the committee.
“I’ll get back to you,” Cheatle replied.
“That’s not true. You’re talking nonsense today. You’re being completely dishonest,” Mace said. “These are important questions that the American people want to know the answers to. You’re just fudged and talking in generalities. That’s why we had to subpoena you and have you come here.”
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Director of the U.S. Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Five. Cheatle refuses to resign
Despite hours of criticism, Cheatle refused to resign.
“I have served as a Secret Service agent for nearly 30 years. I have led with integrity and adhered to our core values of duty, justice, honor, loyalty and courage, and I have done so in this case. I promise the committee that I will respond with a full report once it is available, and I will also cooperate with other ongoing investigations,” she told the committee.
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Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna pointed out that the then-director of the Secret Service resigned after the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
“I don’t think this is a partisan thing. When there is an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, he needs to resign,” Khanna said.
