WASHINGTON
The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was "the most significant operational failure" of the Secret Service, said its Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday.
"The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades, and I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts," Cheatle said during a House Oversight Committee hearing.
Stating that the agency's mission is to protect the US leaders, Cheatle added: "On the 13th, we failed. As a director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency."
She pledged to "move heaven and earth to ensure" that an incident like the Trump attempted assassination does not happen again.
During his opening remarks, James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, demanded resignation of Cheatle.
"However, in complete defiance, Director Cheatle has maintained she will not tender her resignation, therefore, she will answer questions today from members of this committee seeking to provide clarity to the American people about how these events were allowed to transpire," said Comer.
Comer also called the assassination attempt as "one of the darkest days in American political history."
"It represents the ugliest part of what American politics has become, hatred of each other and a dangerous turn to extremism. Before we are Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans if we play political affiliations above our duty and love of country," said Comer.
Trump was attacked on July 13 at his campaign rally in Butler County in the state of Pennsylvania while addressing supporters. One person was killed and two injured. The Secret Service announced that the assailant was “neutralized” at the scene.
The FBI classified the attack as an assassination attempt and identified the perpetrator who was killed at the scene as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
- Secret Service scrutiny
Cheatle was grilled multiple times by House lawmakers regarding the timeline of the shooting during the hearing, and faced calls from several members to step down from her office.
At one point, she was asked about footage and reports that showed the shooter climbing onto the roof before the attack.
"We are still combing through communications and when communications were passed," Cheatle said. "I don’t know all of the communications".
The director also said the initial investigation of the agency into the assassination attempt will be completed in two months and no employee from the agency has been disciplined for their role in Bulter.
Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican, was among the lawmakers demanding Cheatle resign. "You should have come today, ready to give us answers... I call on you to resign today. Today," said Biggs.
However, she brushed away the calls, saying: "I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time".
Representative Jamie Raskin, a ranking member of the Committee, pressed Cheatle regarding information about the presence of a "suspicious" person in the crowd and why was Trump allowed to take the stage.
"If the detail had been passed information that there was threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage," she said.
She said the agency was informed about a suspicious individual "somewhere between two and five times" on the day of the attempted assassination.
"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" to the agency, Cheatle said.
- 'Full of sh*t'
Rep. Tim Burchett asked several questions and later called the Secret Service chief a "DEI horror story.”
"You said that ‘the buck stops with me,’ and I agree. I don’t think you should resign. I think you should have been fired," Burchett told Cheatle. "Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You have let the American public down.”
Rep. Nancy Mace was also among the lawmakers to grill Cheatle, asking her to answer a series of yes or no questions on the agency’s response to the assassination attempt.
"Both sides of the aisle today have asked for your resignation. Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter? Yes or no?" Mace asked.
"No. Thank you," Cheatle responded.
The Republican representative later asked: "Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15? Yes or no?"
"I would have to get back to you," Cheatle said.
"That is a no. You're full of sh*t today. You're just being completely dishonest," Mace said, adding: "You are being dishonest or lying. You're being dishonest here with this committee. These are important questions that the American people want answers to.”
"And you're just, you're just dodging and talking around it in generalities. And we had to subpoena you to be here. And you won't even answer the questions. We have asked you repeatedly to answer our questions. This isn't hard. These are not hard questions," Mace concluded.
Rep. Glenn Grothman asked Cheatle whether the roof that the shooter was killed on had been cleaned or not.
"I don’t have an answer for that,” she replied.
