Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday regarding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. This hearing comes amidst growing criticism of her leadership and increasing calls for her resignation.
The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Cheatle last week as part of an ongoing investigation into the shooting incident in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot in the ear. One attendee was killed, and two others were injured during the event.
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Anthony Guglielmi, the chief of communications for the Secret Service, confirmed Cheatle’s attendance on Friday. He stated, “The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees. We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure it never happens again. That includes cooperation with Congress, the FBI, and other relevant investigations.”
The shooting has raised significant concerns among both Republicans and some Democrats regarding the Secret Service’s performance. Questions have been posed about how a gunman managed to get so close to the former president and fire multiple shots. In his subpoena letter to Cheatle, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accused the Secret Service of lacking transparency.
“Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about the Secret Service’s historic security failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump, the murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd.
We look forward to Director Cheatle’s testimony on Monday, July 22, to deliver the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve,” Comer said.
In addition to the Oversight Committee hearing, the House Homeland Security Committee has also called for a hearing and subpoenaed documents from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In the Senate, both Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters and ranking member Rand Paul have launched their investigation. The DHS Office of Inspector General is also reviewing the Secret Service’s handling of the rally.
Cheatle faced preliminary scrutiny from several Republican senators at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday. Senator Marsha Blackburn emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating, “This was an assassination attempt. You owe the people answers. You owe President Trump answers.”
In response to the criticism, Cheatle has acknowledged the severity of the incident, calling the shooting “unacceptable” and stating, “The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
Despite the pressure from lawmakers, the Secret Service has indicated that Cheatle does not plan to resign. Guglielmi stated, “Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident, and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down.
She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.”
As Cheatle prepares to testify, the focus will be on how the Secret Service plans to address the security failures and what measures will be implemented to prevent such incidents in the future.