House members on both sides of the aisle left the Oversight Committee hearing on the shooting at former President Donald Trump ’s rally feeling unsatisfied and frustrated with the lack of information from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Cheatle declined to provide specifics on how the shooter accessed the roof that allowed him to take aim at Trump and shoot the former president and three others, one fatally, before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper. She also deflected many questions and asked members to speak to the FBI, which is taking point on the federal investigation into the assassination attempt.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and several other members grilled and blasted Cheatle for her “lame” answers. Jordan at one point asked her if she was “guessing or lying” regarding the Secret Service’s denial of extra security for Trump.
Bipartisan calls for Cheatle to step down grow after disastrous hearing
Democrats and Republicans all agreed that the hearing was disastrous for Cheatle after she failed to provide concrete answers on anything related to the shooting. Frequent answers of "This is an ongoing investigation" caused many members to call on her to resign from both sides of the aisle.
After the hourslong testimony that yielded little to no results, ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) joined Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in asking for Cheatle to resign. Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Byron Donalds (R-FL), and several others called on Cheatle to resign during the hearing.
A group of House Republicans, led by Rep. Nick Langworthy (D-NY), introduced a resolution during the hearing calling for Cheatle's termination as director of the Secret Service.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who does not sit on the Oversight Committee, is planning to introduce impeachment articles against Cheatle.
"In light of Kimberly Cheatle’s unacceptable handling of the Trump assassination attempt, her disastrous appearance before the House Oversight committee today, and her refusal to resign, we have no choice but to impeach," Steube said on X. "I will be filing articles of impeachment against Kimberly Cheatle this afternoon."
Secret Service was told about ‘suspicious person’ at Trump rally multiple times before shooting
Cheatle said the agency was told about a suspicious person at Trump’s rally many times.
“I don’t have an exact number to share with you today, but from what I have been able to discern, somewhere between two and five times, there was some sort of communication about a suspicious individual,” Cheatle said.
She confirmed the suspicious person was photographed but told Raskin that the Secret Service distinguishes someone as suspicious and, separately, someone as a threat.
She said if someone had been considered threatening, “we never would have brought the former president onstage.”
Cheatle also said no one has been fired or put in a position to lose their job and would not answer whether she is prepared to fire anyone who was at the event when the investigation reveals specific security failures.
Top Intelligence Republican calls on Biden to fire Cheatle for being almost 'culpable' in Trump shooting
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said if Trump had been killed in the shooting, Cheatle would have not only looked incompetent but “culpable.”
“Because Donald Trump is alive today, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” Turner said. “If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable. There is no aspect of this that indicates that there has been any protection to Donald Trump.”
“Not only should you resign, if you refuse to do so, President Biden needs to fire you because his life, Donald Trump’s life, and all the other people which you protect are at risk because you have no concept of the aspect that the security footprint needs to be correlated to the threat,” Turner said.
Cheatle grades Secret Service protection of Trump an ‘A’ but acknowledges failures
House Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who called the rally shooting an example of a “cascade of failures” at the Secret Service, asked Cheatle what “grade” she would give the performance by the agency’s performance at the rally.
“As I’ve stated ma’am, this was clearly a failure,” Cheatle said. “I would grade the agents and officers who selflessly threw themselves in front of the president and neutralize the threat an ‘A.’ I think we need to examine the events that led up to, and prior to, that day.”
Cheatle has not visited site but called Trump to apologize
The director told members that she has not visited the site of the shooting but did apologize to Trump in a phone call after the assassination attempt.
Members of the House Homeland Security Committee visited the site on Monday while the oversight hearing was ongoing.
Members frustrated with Cheatle’s lack of detail after nine days
Many members laughed and shook their heads at Cheatle while she dodged questions on the shooting. When Cheatle said she could not provide specifics on the incident, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) asked, “Why are you here?” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) also laughed and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shook her head and said “unbelievable” when Cheatle offered similar remarks.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) questioned why it has been several days since the shooting and Cheatle has yet to provide concrete details to the public.
“The fact that it's been nine days and these are simple questions to answer. … This is a joke,” Donalds said. “And, director, you’re in charge. And that’s why you need to go.”
Democrats were also taking issue with the absence of detail in Cheatle’s answers.
“We are currently in the midst of … an especially concentrated presidential campaign,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said. “So the idea that a report will be finalized in 60 days, let alone prior to any actionable decisions that would be made, is simply not acceptable.”
“It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States. Regardless of party, there need to be answers,” the New York Democrat said. “This is not a moment of theater. We need to make policy decisions, and we need to make them now.”
Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) asked Cheatle if she “really plans to avoid answering questions” about the shooting, with Cheatle responding that once she had a report, she would come back and answer committee questions.
Moskowitz compares Cheatle’s performance to testimony at Education Committee’s antisemitism hearing
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) gave Cheatle an “honest assessment” and said her testimony was not going well, relating it to the statements given by university presidents at the Education Committee’s antisemitism hearing.
“It didn’t go well, and the short end of that story was, the university [presidents] all resigned; they’re gone,” Moskowitz said. “That’s how this is going for you. This is where this is headed. This is — I don’t know who prepared you for this, I don’t know how many times you’ve testified in front of Congress, but a president was almost assassinated live on television … and this being your first opportunity — and I understand there’s an ongoing investigation and I understand there’s things that you can not talk about.”
“But the idea that we’re getting less than you did on television is something that Democrats, independents, or Republicans are going to find unacceptable,” Moskowitz added.
Khanna corrects Cheatle on resignation of Stuart Knight, head of Secret Service during failed Reagan assassination attempt
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) put Cheatle in the hot seat after correcting her on the path former Secret Service Director Stuart Knight took following the failed assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
When asked what Knight did following the shooting, Cheatle said he stayed on as director. Khanna corrected Cheatle, stating that he resigned in 1981. Ultimately, Khanna said, he thinks Cheatle should resign.
“I just don’t think this is partisan,” Khanna said. “If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president, or a candidate, you need to resign.”
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Biggs calls for independent commission while offering support for task force
While the House is poised to vote on a bill establishing a bipartisan task force to look into the assassination attempt, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said he thinks Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) needs to take it a step further due to Cheatle’s lack of answers.
“I am calling, and I’ll support that, on the speaker to give us and put together a truly independent commission of qualified former Secret Service agencies, presidential and VIP Protective Services people who can actually conduct this kind of investigation and give us real answers because I don't think you're going to give us those answers,” Biggs said. “You should have come today ready to give us answers. I call upon you to resign today. Today.”
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