Sundiata Post – US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle was grilled by a bipartisan House Committee over the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Cheatle said the shooting was “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades”
During the hearing, lawmakers from both parties called for Cheatle to resign – though she has declined to do so
Members of the committee were openly frustrated by Cheatle’s answers, though she had emphasised that she cannot comment on ongoing investigations
One man was killed at the rally on 13 July and three others, including Trump, were injured
Multiple witnesses reported seeing a man with a rifle on a rooftop minutes before shots were fired
Cheatle, who has been in the job since 2022, joined the Secret Service in 1995 and supervised Joe Biden’s protective detail when he was vice-president
● More calls for Secret Service chief to resign
The grilling of the Secret Service chief has triggered a strong bipartisan demand for Cheatle’s resignation.
During the hearing, the Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said in a statement posted to X that Cheatle should resign if she “truly accepts responsibility” for the alleged security failures of 13 July.
In the last hour, chairman of the Oversight Committee Rep James Comer, a Republican, and Rep Jamie Raskin, a Democrat who is the committee’s most senior member, jointly called for Cheatle’s resignation.
Their statement – also published on X – reiterates their arguments from the hearing. They say she should resign as a “first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people”.
● The Secret Service’s history of scandals
Though the criticism is particularly strong right now, the aftermath of the 13 July shooting at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, is far from the only time the agency has come under scrutiny.
Throughout its long history, the agency has faced a number of scandals and security lapses. Here are a few of the most notable:
2009: Three USSS employees were put on administrative leave after a pair of DC socialites, Michelle and Tariq Salahi, were mistakenly let into a White House state dinner for India’s prime minister, despite not appearing on the evening’s tightly controlled guest list
2012: Six agents resigned or retired and four had their security clearances revoked after agents preparing for then-President Barack Obama’s visit to Colombia were found to have solicited prostitutes after a night of heavy drinking in the city of Cartagena
2014: A knife-wielding intruder, Omar Gonzalez, jumped a fence and made it into the East Room of the White House before being apprehended – the 17th fence-jumping incident in five years. Then-Director Julia Pierson resigned after the incident
2015: Two high-ranking USSS officials – including the deputy special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division – crashed a car on the grounds of the White House while a suspicious package was being investigated. A probe found that “it was more likely than not” that the pair had been drinking heavily before the incident
2022: Two agents working on Joe Biden’s trip to Asia were sent home from South Korea after being arrested following an alleged alcohol-fuelled physical altercation with a cab driver
● Cheatle maintains composure through brutal questioning
Cheatle faced questions from lawmakers for nearly five hours, but she remained impassive through much of it.
The questioning at times was brutal as the atmosphere within the chamber became contentious.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pushed for Cheatle to resign from her position after she failed to provide any answers from lawmakers probing for more details from last Saturday.
Nancy Mace of South Carolina offered Cheatle the opportunity to resign on the spot – the Secret Service director declined.
Others made their frustrations clear.
“It’s just maddening,” Congressman Nick Langworthy said at one point during the hearing.
“I’m disgusted by your performance,” Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna added.
“You’re not doing well,” Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said. “The entire country is demanding you resign,”
● Republican posts video from rooftop used by would-be assassin
Multiple lawmakers at today’s hearing ridiculed Kimberly Cheatle for her claim that the Secret Service could not post its agents on a dangerously sloped roof in order to secure the building during the rally.
Cheatle herself admitted during the hearing that her agency had no written protocols about sloped roofs.
In a video posted today on X, external, Florida Republican Carlos Gimenez is standing on the roof of the very same building Thomas Crooks was on when he shot at Donald Trump during his Butler County fairgrounds rally speech.
“I’m 70 years old, if I was able to get on this roof — anybody can,” Gimenez’s caption reads.
Speaking to followers, the Cuban-American lawmaker says the idea the roof was too sloped for the Secret Service is “crazy”.
Pivoting to his backdrop, he shows how Crooks had “a clear shot” at the former president.
● What happened at the questioning of the Secret Service boss?
Here’s what we heard today after members of the House Oversight Committee grilled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle following Trump’s assassination attempt:
Lawmakers from both parties called on Cheatle to resign for the security failures that led to the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Multiple members of the committee expressed their frustration that Cheatle repeatedly refused to answer many questions.
She repeatedly responded that she cannot comment on ongoing investigations.
Cheatle admitted that the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades
But, despite bipartisan calls for Cheatle to resign, she insists she will stay in her role and believes she is “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time”.
Cheatle says a full report on the ongoing internal investigation will be released in the next 60 days. She called the shooting “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades”.
Democrats used part of the hearing to call for gun reform, arguing that weapons like the semi-automatic rifle used by the gunman against Trump in Pennsylvania are easy to obtain.
Cheatle didn’t offer any new information on why the shooter was able to access the roof where he was perched when he fired upon Trump
Some Republicans appeared particularly furious – with one using expletives that led to a call for “decorum” – and several blamed DEI initiatives at the Secret Service for undermining security.
● Cheatle grilling ends after almost five hours
After four hours and forty minutes, the hearing has now come to an end.
Committee members are told they will be given a few days to make further written additions to the hearing, but it’s fair to say they made it clear what conclusion they have come to on Cheatle’s leadership.
Today’s fiery hearing will undoubtedly increase the pressure on her to stand down as director of the Secret Service, though it could be several weeks until the full findings of investigations into what happened on 13 July are published.
Cheatle said that it would take another 60 days.
We’ll be wrapping up the key lines for you shortly so stay with us.
●Hearing ends with bipartisan demand for Cheatle’s resignation
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican, is the final person to speak at the hearing.
He notes that the committee is not known for its bipartisanship recently, but on this issue “we came together unanimously in disappointment for your lack of answers”.
Adding to his closing remarks, he says that the American people have now lost confidence in the Secret Service and its leadership.
“I don’t think we answered too many questions that the American people have,” says Comer, referring to Cheatle’s evasiveness.
“I don’t think there was one question asked by anyone that I don’t think the average American hasn’t already asked at a diner or a church or a ballgame.”
“The American people have questions they deserve answers,” he continues.
“You were required to prove answers and, ma’am, you did not.”
He adds that lawmakers will proceed to write a letter formally calling for her to resign as the Secret Service director.
Cheatle has cited the multiple ongoing investigations as the reason for her inability to directly answer many of the lawmakers’ questions.
● Leading Democrat calls for Cheatle to resign in closing
As ranking member of the Oversight Committee, Democrat Jamie Raskin gave his closing remarks first.
He said that he did not want to add to Cheatle’s “no good, very bad day”, noting that numerous lawmakers had already voiced their frustration with her and her answers.
Still, he said that he believed it necessary that she resign from her post. He said that Congress had “lost confidence” in the Secret Service director.
●Republican pushes for answers on additional Trump security
Waltz’s questioning included the playing of CNN video clip that shows Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stating it is “unequivocally false” that the Trump campaign was denied Secret Service protection.
Cheatle says she spoke with Mayorkas immediately following the incident last Saturday.
Waltz asks her if it’s accurate that the Trump campaign asked for more security.
Cheatle says she has seen those requests.
Waltz continues to push Cheatle to answer whether those requests were denied.
“We have continued to increase… the assets that are at the former president’s residence and supply to his detail,” she responds.
● ‘Misinformation flies in the absence of information,’ lawmaker says
Florida Republican Michael Waltz compels Kimberly Cheatle to admit that she has not held any news briefings with the press since the 13 July shooting.
Neither has the FBI, the Justice Department or the Homeland Secretary, he observes.
“This is how misinformation flies,” he says sternly. “In the darkness. In the absence of information.”
Multiple members of Congress have expressed frustration at the limited information they have received, and the ways that Cheatle has evaded many of their questions.
“Are you aware that national news anchors are saying this was a hoax? Are you aware that rumours are flying there were multiple shooters?” Waltz asks.
“I would have fired you just by how you handled this,” Waltz argues, “because you should have been the first to the mics.”
● ‘It’s just maddening’: Lawmakers continue to ridicule Cheatle
Congressman Nick Langworthy became visibly angry as he grilled Cheatle about whether local law enforcement alerted the Secret Service to a threat in the crowd.
Cheatle says that the lawmakers are incorrectly conflating the terms “suspicious” and “threat”
Langworthy accuses her of “poor judgement” which nearly cost Trump his life.
“The dereliction of duty is just appalling. That you haven’t visited Butler is just maddening,” he says, referring to the site of the attempted assassination.
“It’s just maddening to me,” he says, raising his voice as he calls for the president to fire her.
Cheatle’s hearing answers more shameful than security failure – Republican
More heavy criticism is being heaped on Cheatle, this time by Republican Nick Langworthy.
He tells her: “You have brought more shame to your agency today than the assassination attempt at this point.”
He calls her testimony the worst performance he has ever seen in a committee hearing.
● Congresswoman Luna: ‘I’m disgusted by your performance’
Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican, suggests bringing perjury charges against Cheatle.
“You’ve been basically stonewalling our ability to get the answers to the American people,” Luna says, calling it “unacceptable”.
Luna calls for Cheatle to formally step down. She says members of Congress are “sitting ducks” with her in charge and do not feel safe with her leading the agency.
“I’m disgusted by your performance today,” she says.
● Republican calls for Biden to fire Cheatle ‘after his nap’
Republican Congressman Russell Fry asks Cheatle when exactly the gunman was identified as a “threat” to Trump.
She says it was “seconds” before the shots were fired.
“My gosh, we actually have a few questions that we got answers to today,” he responds.
He goes on to say that it has taken “nine days to even get a scintilla of evidence out of you” and says that if he was with NBC or ABC he’d get more thorough information from her.
He goes on to call for her resignation, as other Republicans have done today.
He adds that perhaps President Biden will fire her “when he wakes up from his nap”.
● Reports find Secret Service denied certain protections for Trump
One line of questioning that has been raised frequently surrounds whether Cheatle’s agency denied Trump campaign requests for additional protections.
The Secret Service said some security modifications for former President Donald Trump “were not provided” ahead of the assassination attempt made against the former president, BBC’s news partner CBS News reported.
The Secret Service admitted that in some instances where they did not provide “specific specialized units or resources,” the agency instead made “modifications to ensure extra protection” of the former president.
Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service spokesperson, said modifications could include using state or local partners to provide “specialized functions”.
The Trump campaign has asked for additional Secret Service resources since the former president left office, CBS News reported.
● Colorado’s Boebert floats conspiracy theories in hearing
Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert immediately began her questioning on whether Cheatle apologised to President Trump after the shooting in Butler.
“Yes I did,” Cheatle responded.
In a tense back and forth, Boebert also skirted around various conspiracy theories, including whether Cheatle has communicated with the White House on an encrypted device or messaging app – a charge Cheatle denies.
She’s also gone through many of the questions we’ve heard repeatedly, including whether assets were denied and whether any contact was made with the shooter before gunfire rang out.
Boebert has asked whether a “man in a grey suit” was present at the rally, and appeared to imply he was an agent of the ATF – a theory that has appeared on social media.
“I don’t have that information,” Cheatle responds.
Additionally, Boebert asked whether the Secret Service counter-sniper was given an order to hold fire even after Crooks shot at Trump.
“I can tell you the way our personnel were trained,” Cheatle responds. “When they see a threat, they are authorised to neutralise that threat. They do not need to ask permission.”
Boebert added that she finds it “maddening” that this country has “come centimetres from oblivion” but still has no answers.
“This entire thing is a waste of time,” she says. “You need to be fired….I cannot tolerate your watch any longer.”
● Democrats use hearing to call for gun reform
Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin notes that the attack on Trump was not the only mass shooting that took place that day.
In Alabama, a man was arrested for fatally shooting his wife and four children between the ages of 2 and 9.
Raskin says that weapons like the semi-automatic rifle used by the gunman against Trump in Pennsylvania can be purchased “promiscuously” in the US, and that Congress must do more to restrict gun rights to prevent future attacks.
“Sure, we have a hearing when it affects the president of the United States, but all other days of the year we don’t have a hearing about it.”
Multiple Democratic members of the Oversight Committee have noted the the attempted assassination of Trump with an AR-style rifle stresses the need for further gun reform.
“Just like we’re demanding real actions from the Secret Service, let us also demand real actions of ourselves when it comes to gun violence,” Raskin says.
● Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Cheatle a ‘complete failure’
Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Green has repeatedly pressed Cheatle for names of those involved in securing the Butler really, arguing that the American people “demand answers”.
Cheatle has, again, refused.
“I don’t believe you,” an angry Greene says of Cheatle’s answers to lawmakers.
“You’re not doing well. You’ve been sitting here for three hours. The entire country is demanding you resign.”
When Greene asks Cheatle if she has a timeline from the rally shooting, Cheatle says she has one “that does not have specifics”.
Laughter could be heard in the room, and Greene responds: “That’s shocking.”
Shouting, Greene repeatedly asked “at what point” someone is declared a threat – whether it takes a backpack, a range finder, or being seen crawling on the roof of a building.
“People under your command did not consider him to be a threat. But people there in the crowd considered him to be threat,” she said. “You are a complete failure.”
She ended her remarks by asking whether there was a conspiracy to kill Trump – which Cheatle denied.
“We’re waiting on your letter of resignation,” Greene says. “You really need to consider doing that today.”
