'Bafflement and Outrage' After Cheatle Testifies

Lawmakers from both parties urge Secret Service director to quit after House hearing
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2024 8:00 PM CDT
After Testimony, Lawmakers Urge Cheatle to Step Down
Kimberly Cheatle departs after testifying Monday, July 22, 2024, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

After Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee for more than four hours on Monday, committee members from both parties called for her to resign. The New York Times reports that Cheatle failed to answer basic questions about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, declining to say how many agents were protecting Trump or why the rooftop the would-be assassin fired from was left outside of the Pennsylvania rally's security perimeter.

  • A "moment of unity." In what the AP calls a "rare moment of unity" for the committee, its chairman, GOP Rep. James Comer, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, its ranking Democrat, issued a letter urging Cheatle to step down. Raskin said he "didn't see any daylight between the members of the two parties today at the hearing, in terms of our bafflement and outrage."

  • Standout quote. "I think that the director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country and we need to very quickly move beyond this," Raskin said.
  • An apology to Trump. In response to a question from GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, Cheatle said she had personally apologized to Trump.
  • What constitutes a threat? Asked why Trump was allowed to take the stage after Thomas Matthew Crooks was spotted and considered a suspicious person, Cheatle said Secret Service agents would have "paused the rally had they known there was an actual threat," but she dodged questions about what constitutes a threat, the Washington Post reports.
  • Backtracking. The Times reports that Cheatle appeared to backtrack from her remark last week that nobody was stationed on the roof because the slope was considered unsafe. She said Monday that there was a "plan in place to provide overwatch," with officers observing the rooftop from a higher area, and the agency is "still looking into responsibilities and who was going to provide overwatch."
  • Harsh words. Republican Rep. Pat Fallon told Cheatle, a former top security official at Pepsi Co. North America, to "go back to guarding Doritos," the Post reports. The Times reports that after Cheatle said she wasn't sure when she received a letter asking her to attend the hearing, GOP Rep. Lisa McClain asked: "What are you sure of? Are you sure of the color of your hair? Are you sure of the color of your suit?"
(More Trump rally shooting stories.)

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