Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Secret Service Director Steps Down After Assassination Attempt Against Ex-President Trump at Rally
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 months ago on
July 23, 2024

Kimberly Cheatle, Director, U.S. Secret Service, testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington. (AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WASHINGTON — The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job, according to an email she sent to staff, following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in the email to staff Tuesday. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after appeared before a congressional committee and was berated by hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades and said she takes fully responsibility for the security lapses, but angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.

The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 meters (157 yards) of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire. That’s despite a threat on Trump’s life from Iran leading to additional security for the former president in the days before the July 13 rally.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Former Fresno Businessman Todd Mumma Sentenced to 21 Years for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

DON'T MISS

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

DON'T MISS

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

DON'T MISS

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

DON'T MISS

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

DON'T MISS

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

DON'T MISS

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

DON'T MISS

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

DON'T MISS

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

UP NEXT

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

UP NEXT

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

UP NEXT

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

UP NEXT

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

UP NEXT

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

UP NEXT

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

UP NEXT

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

UP NEXT

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

UP NEXT

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

15 hours ago

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

16 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

16 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

18 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

18 hours ago

Christian McCaffrey Returns to Practice for the 49ers From Achilles Tendon Injury

18 hours ago

California Sues LA Suburb for Temporary Ban of Homeless Shelters

18 hours ago

You May Have Blocked Someone on X but Now They Can See Your Public Posts Anyway

19 hours ago

Some Republican-Led States Refuse to Let Justice Department Monitors Into Polling Places

19 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal NW Apartment Shooting

19 hours ago

Former Fresno Businessman Todd Mumma Sentenced to 21 Years for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Former Fresno business owner Todd Eric Mumma has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a minor, followed b...

27 seconds ago

Booking photo of Todd Eric Mumma
28 seconds ago

Former Fresno Businessman Todd Mumma Sentenced to 21 Years for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

4 hours ago

A Kamala Harris Quiz for Election Day

trump
4 hours ago

A Donald Trump Quiz for Election Day

A driver suspected of DUI crashed into a parked California Highway Patrol car at a fatal crash scene in Fresno County, sustaining minor injuries and later being cited. (Fresno County SO)
15 hours ago

CHP Car Struck by Drunk Driver While Investigating Another Crash

fresno
16 hours ago

Fresno Man Ejected From Car Dies Off McKinley Avenue

16 hours ago

‘Leave It the Way It Is’: Off-Roaders, Hikers React to Proposal to Change 1.4M Acres of Sierra Forest

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP/Ashley Landis)
18 hours ago

Yankees Retain Cole, Add $36 Million Extension to Keep Ace

Voters cast their ballots at Desert Breeze Community Center in Las Vegas during the last day of in-person early voting in Nevada on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Nearly 75 million people have cast early ballots, making their voices heard amid worry about the process, the outcome and democracy itself. (Bridget Bennett/The New York Times)
18 hours ago

5 Reasons Early Voting Is Overwhelmed With Falsehoods

Search

Send this to a friend