Republican candidate Donald Trump is surrounded by Secret Service agents following an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. and subsequent actions.
Rebecca Drock/AFP via Getty Images
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Rebecca Drock/AFP via Getty Images
In her first testimony before Congress since the July 13 assassination of former President Donald Trump, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle plans to tell lawmakers that her agency failed in its primary responsibility : Protect national leaders.
Chatter was subpoenaed to appear before the House Oversight Committee following the shooting at Trump’s rally in western Pennsylvania. This is the first time in her 29-year Secret Service career that she has testified before Congress.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” Cheatle said in prepared remarks ahead of her appearance, obtained by NPR. “As Director of the U.S. Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapses.”
Charter is also expected to tell lawmakers that the agency is fully cooperating with the FBI investigation, congressional oversight and conducting internal reviews.
“We must understand what happened, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that an incident like July 13 never happens again,” Cheatle said in prepared remarks.
The debut is expected to be a high-stakes moment for her character and the future of her agency.
Republicans, including top congressional leaders, are largely united in calling for Chatter to resign. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Cuomo, R-Ky., is expected to join those calls while highlighting the agency’s failures in the lead-up to the shooting.
“This tragedy could have been avoided. The Secret Service’s mission was zero failure, but it failed on July 13 and days before the rally. “The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a massive budget but has now become incompetent Spokesperson.”
Cuomo is also expected to say Americans haven’t gotten the answers they need and that people should be fired because of a “historic failure.”
“I firmly believe, Director Cheatle, that you should resign. Yet, Director Cheatle is completely desperate to insist that she will not resign,” Cuomo said in prepared remarks. “So today she will answer questions from members of this committee aimed at clarifying to the American people how these events occurred.”
Those concerns are expected to be echoed repeatedly during an hours-long hearing that could last much of the day. It comes amid a growing investigation into the shooting and the Secret Service.
Secret Service rejects some of Trump’s security requests
Over the weekend, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that the Secret Service had rejected several requests from the Trump team for additional resources. All requests were made before the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed to NPR that the agency denied at least six additional security requests for Trump in the two years leading up to the rally.
These include multiple denials of requests to use magnetometers at public events, including 2023 rallies in Bronx County, Michigan and New York, and Wildwood, New Jersey. The Secret Service also did not send a counter-sniper team to the July 2023 rally in South Carolina, a request that was met by local law enforcement.
“In some cases, when specific Secret Service specialized units or resources are not available, the agency makes modifications to ensure the safety of those protected,” Guglielmi said in a statement to NPR. “This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identify alternatives to reduce the protected person’s public exposure. “
Previously, Guglielmi, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and, reportedly, Chettle have denied the Department of Homeland Security’s rejection of the Trump team’s request for additional security.
Mayorkas said in a statement on July 15: “Before and after the events of last weekend, the Secret Service increased its protection of former President Trump due to the evolving nature of the threats the former President faced and his upcoming departure from the United States. It is assumed that the nominator becomes the nominator.
Guglielmi said he viewed the new update as a “clarification” of his previous statements.
A growing list of investigations
Later on Sunday, Merrokas appointed a panel of experts to conduct an independent review of the assassination attempt.
The panel included Janet Napolitano, the Obama-era homeland security secretary; Fran Townsend, the homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush; and former federal judge Mark Filip, Former Deputy Attorney General under Bush; David Mitchell, former Maryland State Police Commissioner and former Delaware Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. Additional experts may be appointed to the group in the coming days.
“We are committed to finding the truth about what happened on July 13, and I am grateful to the distinguished members of this independent review who will bring decades of law enforcement and security operations expertise to this important investigation,” Mayorkas said. Knowledge.
The Secret Service’s operations in the days leading up to and on Saturday’s attempt on Trump’s life were closely watched. President Biden ordered an independent review of the incident. Mayorkas said the panel will conduct a 45-day review of planning and actions taken by the Secret Service and state and local authorities before, during and after Trump’s rallies.
series of investigations
The review comes in addition to a congressional investigation that is also being led by a Democratic-led homeland security panel and Republican-led House counterparts. Today, a bipartisan group of the House Homeland Security Panel will personally visit the scene of Butler’s shooting and discuss their findings so far after the visit.
The House homeland security panel also asked law enforcement officials from the Pennsylvania State Police and Butler County to testify.
Separately, the panel’s chairman, Tennessee Republican Mark Green, asked for additional testimony from Chittle and senior officials at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Cheatle, however, has yet to accept the invitation.
On Monday, Greene joined other Republicans in calling on Chartel to resign.
“While the American people are still searching for answers, we know enough that Director Chatter should no longer hold her position,” Green said. “Since July 13, the committee has been working in good faith to seek answers.
In response, Director Chatel has refused to testify before our committee, and DHS has not been transparent or candid.
