Secret Service chief needs to go, Republican and Democrat leaders say after brutal hearing
Embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told a House panel on Monday that “we failed” to maintain the agency’s “solemn mission to protect our nation’s leaders” during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13.
“We must learn what happened and I will move heaven and earth to ensure an incident like July 13th does not happen again,” said Cheatle, who is testifying under subpoena before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
She said, “The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades and I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts.”
Cheatle has refused to resign despite facing blistering criticism over the Secret Service’s failure to secure a building rooftop overlooking the site of Trump’s campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, which 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks used as a sniper position to shoot at the Republican presidential nominee and audience members.
“I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief and a hero, who was killed in this senseless shooting,” Cheatle said. “I would also like to acknowledge those who were injured in Butler, Pennsylvania, David Dutch and James [Copenhaver], and I wish them a speedy recovery.”
Cheatle also said, “As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse.”
“As an agency, we are fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation, the oversight you have initiated here, and conducting our own internal mission assurance review at my direction. Likewise, we will cooperate with the pending external review and the DHS Office of the Inspector General.”
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
Correction: James Copenhaver was injured in the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. An earlier version misspelled his name.