First appeared on FOX: Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona is calling on U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to back up her testimony at Monday’s explosive hearing with hard evidence.
Biggs sent a letter to Cheatle shortly after the House Oversight Committee hearing ended, asking for documents regarding security measures, coverage, personnel and other notes regarding law enforcement preparations for former President Trump’s rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
A 20-year-old gunman opened fire at the event, killing one attendee and wounding two, before being shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.
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Rep. Andy Biggs is pressing Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for more information about what caused the security lapses at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally. (Getty Images)
Trump himself was shot above the right ear and was hurriedly carried off the stage by Secret Service agents.
“As you are aware, the United States House of Representatives is investigating the United States Secret Service’s preparations for and response to the attempted assassination of President Donald J. Trump on July 13, 2024, which resulted in the death of Cory Comperatore, severely injuring two other attendees, and was the first time a presidential candidate had been assassinated in nearly 60 years,” Biggs wrote in a letter to Cheatle.
“It is incomprehensible that an assassin could have entered a poorly secured building in direct view of the rally stage and shot President Trump. It is equally incomprehensible that the US Secret Service publicly identified this building as a potential vulnerability and then failed to include that vulnerability in its security perimeter or otherwise secure it.”
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On July 13, 2024, an assassination attempt occurred during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after which Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was photographed with blood running down his face and surrounded by Secret Service agents. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Biggs accused the Secret Service of “failing to do its job” that day.
This came after lawmakers from both parties expressed frustration with what they saw as an apparent lack of candor in Cheatle’s answers during a marathon hearing on Monday. At least two House Democrats have now called on him to resign.
Biggs was one of the people who directly told Cheatle to step down from his role, saying, “You should have come today prepared to answer to us. I am asking you to step down today.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.
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Republicans and Democrats alike were not satisfied with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s answers at Monday’s hearing. (Reuters/Kevin Mohat)
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The letter comes as the House of Representatives prepares to vote this week on creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the shooting.
The message also came the day after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced he would conduct a 45-day independent investigation into the assassination attempt on President Trump.
