Key Points
- US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has admitted security failures in the Trump assassination attempt.
- Despite bipartisan calls for her resignation Cheatle refuses to step down.
- Cheatle defended her role, citing ongoing investigations.
United States Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has acknowledged that the agency failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump
But she rejected bipartisan calls for her resignation.
"The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders," Cheatle said during a contentious hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
"On July 13, we failed," she said. "As director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse."
Cheatle said the attack on Trump, who was slightly wounded in his right ear while speaking at a campaign rally, was "the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades".
"There clearly was a mistake and we will make every effort to make sure that this never happens again," she said.
Bipartisan calls for Cheatle to step down
The committee's Republican chair James Comer and top Democrat Jamie Raskin — normally bitterly divided on most issues — each called on Cheatle to step down.
"This committee is not known for its model of bipartisanship, and I think today we came together unanimously in our disappointment," Comer told Cheatle.
"We don't have that confidence that you can lead."
Raskin said Cheatle had "lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country, and we very quickly need to move beyond this".
But she repeatedly rebuffed calls to step down, saying at one point: "I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time."
Cheatle also drew the ire of lawmakers from both parties by refusing to provide specific details about the attack, citing the existence of multiple active investigations.
"I can speak to you in generalities," she said.
Cheatle said agency did not deny resources to protect Trump
The hearing marked the first round of congressional oversight of the at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was wounded in the ear, one rally attendee was killed and another was injured.
The suspected shooter, 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Crooks, was killed by law enforcement.
It is not clear what his motive was for the shooting.
In the face of Republican claims that the Secret Service denied resources to protect Trump, Cheatle said security for the former president had grown ahead of the shooting.
"The level of security provided for the former president increased well before the campaign and has been steadily increasing as threats evolve," Cheatle said.
She added that the Secret Service provided the security sought by the Trump campaign for the rally.
But Cheatle repeatedly declined to answer questions from openly frustrated Republicans and Democrats about the security perimeter, what officials knew of potential threats and the decisions they made as well as the suspicious behaviour of the suspect.
"Tell us what went wrong," Republican representative Pete Sessions implored her.
"Tell us, and don't try and play a shell game with us."
Cheatle said she wanted to provide factual information but cited multiple ongoing investigations, including an internal probe due to be completed within 60 days.
Lawmakers of both parties rejected the idea of a 60-day delay and accused Cheatle of stonewalling Congress.
"The notion of a report coming out in 60 days when the threat environment is so high in the United States, irrespective of party is not acceptable," said Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
