Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Secret Service Chief Pummeled by Lawmakers Who Want Her to Resign
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 9 months ago on
July 22, 2024

Kimberly Cheatle, the Secret Service director, testifies during the House Oversight Committee hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 22, 2024. Cheatle called the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump “the most significant operational failure” of the security agency in decades. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — The Secret Service director, Kimberly A. Cheatle, angered members of Congress on Monday by repeatedly refusing to answer specific questions about security failures that led to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, prompting members of both parties to demand her resignation.

Cheatle, appearing before the House oversight committee, called the shooting at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, her agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades. But she cited the continuing investigation when declining to answer queries about the would-be assassin’s access to the warehouse roof from which he fired, how he had managed to bring a firearm to the event, why Trump was allowed to come onstage despite warnings about a suspicious person, and many other details.

A spectator at the Trump campaign rally was killed, and the former president and two attendees were injured in the July 13 shooting. In the days since, congressional committees have been investigating missteps by law enforcement before, during and after the attack.

“Because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, calling for President Joe Biden to fire Cheatle if she did not resign. “If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable.”

Here’s What Else to Know

— Pressure to resign: Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., joined many of his Republican colleagues in pushing for Cheatle to step down, while James R. Comer, R-Ky., the chair of the oversight committee, said her agency had become the “face of incompetence.” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of Trump’s closest allies, accused the Secret Service of “cutting corners.”

— Rebuffed requests: The Secret Service acknowledged on Saturday that it had turned down requests for additional federal resources sought by Trump’s security detail in the two years leading up to the attempted assassination. “For the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied,” Cheatle told Congress.

— Breakdown in protection: The Secret Service faces questions over why the warehouse used by the shooter to fire at Trump was not included in the security perimeter zone. Also unclear is why the agency did not assign more local law enforcement officers to work outside the perimeter.

— Homeland Security review: The homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, on Sunday announced the members of a panel that will conduct an independent 45-day review of the security breakdown at the Trump rally. The Secret Service is a part of the department. Biden had called for an independent investigation.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Luke Broadwater/Kenny Holston
c.2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

DON'T MISS

Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Near ‘Significant Breakthrough,’ Two Security Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

DON'T MISS

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

DON'T MISS

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

DON'T MISS

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

DON'T MISS

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

DON'T MISS

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

DON'T MISS

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

DON'T MISS

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

UP NEXT

Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Near ‘Significant Breakthrough,’ Two Security Sources Say

UP NEXT

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

UP NEXT

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

UP NEXT

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

UP NEXT

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

UP NEXT

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

UP NEXT

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

UP NEXT

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

UP NEXT

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

UP NEXT

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

6 hours ago

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

6 hours ago

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

6 hours ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

7 hours ago

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

7 hours ago

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

7 hours ago

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

7 hours ago

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

8 hours ago

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

8 hours ago

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

9 hours ago

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

For the first time in Fresno City College’s 115-year history, a United States senator will speak at its commencement ceremony. California De...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

California Senator Will Make Historic Appearance at Fresno City College Commencement

Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip April 28, 2025. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)
5 hours ago

Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Cairo Near ‘Significant Breakthrough,’ Two Security Sources Say

5 hours ago

Fresno County Farmer Sentenced to Prison in $650,000 Crop Insurance Fraud Case

6 hours ago

Where Were the Most Car Crashes in Clovis? Police Release List

Officers with the New York Police Department outside the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, on Monday, April 28, 2025. The Police Department said it was preparing for new protests in Brooklyn on Monday after a woman was verbally and physically assaulted by hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators there last week. (Victor J. Blue/The New York Times)
6 hours ago

Protesters to Rally in Brooklyn After Pro-Israel Crowd Assaults Woman

6 hours ago

Selma Teen’s Death May Be Tied to Fentanyl, Police Say

At least 26 people were killed and three injured on Monday when two vehicles struck an improvised explosive device in Nigeria’s insurgency-hit Borno state, an attack residents blamed on Boko Haram. (Shutterstock)
7 hours ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

Visitors pay their respects at a memorial after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP/Lindsey Wasson)
7 hours ago

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend