Republicans on the House Oversight Committee expected to grill U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday said the Department of Homeland Security will face “harsh reality” if it continues to remain “silent” about failures leading up to the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Rep. Ana Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital over the weekend that the bureaucracy cannot be allowed to shirk its responsibility to be accountable to the American people as the hearings begin.
“I look forward to hearing from Director Cheatle this Monday and hearing his explanation for the Secret Service’s failure to thwart the assassination attempt on President Trump,” Luna said.
“I also want answers as to why DHS President Donald Mayorkas has attempted blatant bureaucratic stonewalling against us. They are not going to get away with it, and we expect full transparency from them.”
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Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a response to the portrayal, as he is currently facing intense scrutiny over missteps at the Mexican border and within the Secret Service, both of which are under his purview.
“If they continue to try to shut out information from Congress and the American people, they will face some harsh reality,” Luna added.
Cheatle had already been confronted about the matter when he was spotted by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) at the Republican National Convention.
“This is an assassination attempt. You owe the American people an explanation. You owe President Trump an explanation,” Blackburn called out to Cheatle, while Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) yelled “obstruction!”
Earlier this week, Mayorkas said he had “100% confidence” in Cheatle and her agency, a claim that left Republicans like Luna troubled.
The Oversight Committee posted on X that Americans really want an explanation for how a 20-year-old nutritionist from a Pittsburgh suburb scaled a nearby building and nearly killed President Trump.
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Former President Trump attended a rally in Philadelphia on June 22, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Jim Watson/Getty Images)
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: CBS News On Friday, Trump said he was “committed to gaining a better understanding of what happened before, during and after” the assassination attempt on Trump by Thomas Crooks, and to making sure this never happens again.
A spokesman for the oversight committee, led by Kentucky Republican James Comer, told Fox News that it subpoenaed Cheatle to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from “backing down.”[ing]”She agreed to appear before his committee.”
Comer and Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., issued an unusual joint statement Friday, calling Crooks’ attack a “grave attack on our democracy” and saying “political violence of any kind has no place in our great nation.”
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Former President Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Our Founding Fathers envisioned vigorous and vibrant political debate in this country, and we see that debate all too often in our committee rooms. While we often have sharp disagreements about policy and investigative priorities, we are united in condemning all political violence and in ensuring that America will never allow such horrific events to happen again,” they said of the upcoming hearings.
“The American people have many serious questions about the historic security failure at the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle must appear before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, July 22 without delay to answer our many questions and provide the transparency and accountability that the American people deserve and that is the bedrock of our government.”
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Chad Pergram contributed to this report..
