WASHINGTON — Congressmen on both sides of the aisle on Monday sharply criticized Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for the agency’s failure to prevent an assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump, calling on her to resign amid dissatisfaction with her testimony.
Nine days after a 20-year-old gunman killed one rallygoer and wounded two others with an AR-15-style rifle at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a slew of bipartisan investigations and efforts are underway to get to the bottom of the shooting that nearly killed the 2024 Republican presidential candidate. The shooter was killed at the scene.
“The Secret Service has a flawless mission, but it failed miserably on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally,” Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said in a statement opening a lengthy committee hearing on the attempted coup.
Trump ‘secure’ after Butler rally shooting; one spectator and shooting suspect killed
“The Secret Service employs thousands of people and has a significant budget, but now it has become a symbol of incompetence,” said Comer, a Kentucky Republican.
Cheatle, who testified after Comer called her in for questioning.stated that the assassination attempt was “the most serious operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” and admitted that it took and will take responsibility.
“My responsibility is to lead the agency and find answers to how this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she added.
Both sides are critical of the questioning
Republicans and Democrats expressed extreme dissatisfaction with Cheatle’s response, with Comer and senior Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland calling on Cheatle to resign. joint letter after the hearing.
Both said Cheatle “failed to answer basic questions about this shocking operational failure and failed to assure the American people that the Secret Service had learned its lesson and was beginning to correct its systemic errors and failures.”
Lawmakers grilled Cheatle on how the attacker managed to get to the roof where he fired the shot, how Trump was allowed on stage once a “suspicious person” was identified and why she has not yet resigned from her position.
“Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive — and thank God he is — you look incompetent. If Donald Trump were killed, you would look guilty,” said Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Cheatle’s testimony
During cross-examination, Cheatle noted that she was answering questions she was able to answer “based on the fact that there are multiple ongoing investigations.”
However, under questioning, Cheatle revealed that the Secret Service was warned “somewhere between two and five times” about a “suspicious person” before the shooting.
“You’re full of sh— today. You’re just completely dishonest,” South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace said, asking Cheatle a series of yes-or-no questions, including whether it was a “colossal failure.”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico, said Cheatle’s responses were “completely unsatisfactory.”
“How could this happen? … We need answers not only for the family members of the gentleman who was killed and those who were injured, but we need answers for our democracy because, as others have said here today, we are in a highly charged political environment right now,” she said.
Rep. Byron Donalds was among countless lawmakers calling on Cheatle to resign, saying, “You need to be fired immediately because this is blatant incompetence.”
“This is a joke. Mr. Director, you are responsible and you need to go,” said Donalds, a Florida Republican.
Michigan Republican Rep. Lisa McClain also expressed frustration with Cheatle’s responses.
“If you want to lead, you have to lead,” McClain said. “If you want to be in power, answer the question or step aside and have someone with the courage and the balls answer the American people’s questions that they deserve.”
Cheatle also drew criticism when he said he wanted to complete the internal investigation within 60 days — a move that the commission didn’t like.
Cheatle noted that a number of investigations by the Office of Inspector General and ongoing FBI criminal investigations are ongoing, while the agency is conducting its own internal investigation.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, noted that the November election is just 100 days away.
“That’s why the concept of releasing a report in 60 days when the threat to the United States is so high — regardless of party — is unacceptable,” she said.
A Call for Gun Control
Some Democrats, including Raskin, used the hearing to draw attention to the problem of gun violence and pushed for a ban on AR-15 rifles.
He noted that the same day as the assassination attempt on Trump, there was another mass shooting. killed four people and injured at least 10 other people at a nightclub in Birmingham, Alabama.
“That means, amazingly, the attack on Butler wasn’t even the deadliest mass shooting that happened in America on that day,” he said. “We need to find the courage and determination to ban AR-15s and other assault weapons.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan noted that this year the committee has not held a hearing on the “over 260 mass shootings that have occurred, killing hundreds of people, injuring hundreds, changing their lives forever.”
More investigations
On Monday, members U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committeeled by Chairman Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, visited the rally site. The committee also plans to hold a hearing on the attempted bombing in Washington on Tuesday.
Also present was Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, whose district includes Butler.
Proposal, sent by Kellyto establish a commission to investigate the attempted coup, is scheduled to be voted on in the House of Representatives this week.
“Will investigate and thoroughly review all actions of any agency, department, official or employee of the Federal Government, as well as State and local law enforcement agencies or other State or local governmental bodies, private entities or individuals” related to the attempted attack.
The task force is also expected to issue a final report setting out its findings no later than December 13.
Separately, President Joe Biden asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to launch an “independent safety review” attempted attack, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday appointed a bipartisan panel to conduct a “45-day independent review” of the actions of agencies and state and local governments before, during and after the July 13 rally.
