Fox News has confirmed that U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following mounting pressure following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Fox News reviewed the letter, which Cheatle sent to the U.S. Secret Service on Tuesday morning, the day after he testified before the House Oversight Committee on Monday and more than a week after would-be assassin Thomas Crooks tried to take his life at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
“To my colleagues at the United States Secret Service: The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leadership and financial infrastructure,” Cheatle said in a letter to the agency. “On July 13th, we failed to fulfill that mission.”
Cheatle said the “surveillance” over the past week had been “intense and will continue as the pace of operations increases.”
“As director, I take full responsibility for any security failures,” she wrote.
Director of the U.S. Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle looks on during a press conference ahead of the 2024 Democratic and Republican National Conventions at the Secret Service’s Chicago Field Office in Chicago, Illinois, on June 4, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
But Cheatle said, “This incident does not define us.”
“We remain an organization founded on integrity and staffed with people of extraordinary commitment and talent,” she wrote, adding that “our department will continue to make steady progress in our investigative and protective mission.”
“We will not run away from challenges,” she wrote, “but I do not want my call for you to resign to distract from the great work each and every one of you is doing toward our important mission.”
Cheatle said when he got the call asking if he would like to return to the Secret Service after a brief retirement, “it was a no-brainer.”
“I love this institution, our mission, and the great men and women of awakening who sacrifice so much every day,” she wrote. “I have always and will always put the needs of this institution first.”
“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down from my position on the board,” Cheatle wrote.
Cheatle reviewed his career, noting that he served as a special agent for 27 years, provided security for events for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, served as security supervisor for then-Vice President Dick Cheney, oversaw security for then-Vice President Biden, and led the RTC, “including overseeing the agency’s protective mission during the Trump Administration as AD-OPO.”
“As I stated at yesterday’s hearing, you are worthy of my trust and confidence,” Cheatle wrote. “You deserve the public’s support in carrying out our important mission.”
“One of the things I love about this workforce is how dedicated these men and women are to our mission,” Cheatle said.
“Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our great country,” she wrote, signing the letter with “kac.”
A week after the assassination attempt, the Secret Service’s explanation continues to evolve
During the rally, Trump turned his head just slightly to avoid a bullet fired by 20-year-old suspect Crooks’ AR-15 rifle by just a quarter of an inch. The bullet instead struck him in the upper right ear.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The bullets killed Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, father and husband, and severely injured two others as he tried to shield his family from the gunfire.
Cheatle admitted under oath that the Secret Service “failed on July 13th.”
“As Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for our agency’s security failings,” she said. “We must know what happened, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that an incident like July 13 never happens again.”
“Our agents, officers and support personnel understand that they are required to sacrifice their lives every day to execute the mission without failure,” Cheatle added.
Secret Service agents escorted former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump onstage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Republicans, including House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, had called Cheatle and the agency she oversees a “pattern of incompetence” and called for her resignation.
“Director Cheatle, I firmly believe you should resign,” Comer said during the hearing. “The safety of Secret Service recipients is not determined by political positions. The reality is that under Director Cheatle’s leadership, one has to wonder who is safe.”
But Cheatle ignored those calls for days, insisting he would not resign and instead appeared in Congress to answer the American people’s questions.
Secret Service under investigation by Homeland Security Inspector General after Trump assassination attempt
Cheatle also detailed the roof where Crooks was originally seated, a major security lapse that led to Trump’s near assassination.
“That building in particular has a sloped roof on the highest part of the building, so, you know, for safety reasons, you don’t want people to be climbing onto a sloped roof,” Cheatle said last week, “so the decision was made to protect the building from the inside.”
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is sworn in to testify before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Monday, July 22, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington, which left one rally attendee dead and two seriously injured. Photo by Associated Press/J. Scott Applewhite
During the hearing, Cheatle said the Secret Service was “still investigating the detailed process and decisions made” regarding why it did not station agents on the roof where Crooks fired shots at former President Trump.
“On the day of the visit, the building was outside the perimeter. But again, this is one of the things we want to consider during the investigation and determine whether a different decision should have been made,” she said.
Thomas Matthew Crooks crawls across a rooftop moments before attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump. (DJ Laughery (background))
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She added, “I won’t get into the specific number of personnel that were there, but we feel there were a sufficient number of investigators on the case.”
According to reports, Trump’s security team has repeatedly requested additional security from the Secret Service, but the requests have been unsuccessful.
of Department of Homeland Security The inspector general has opened an investigation into the Secret Service’s response to the Trump rally on July 13.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
