Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle utterly failed Monday to reassure lawmakers that she was still the best person for the job after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, instead prompting members from both parties to call for her resignation in real time.
During the nearly five-hour long hearing in front of the Oversight Committee, members of the typically polarized committee united in questioning how Cheatle could remain on the job and lambasted her for evading inquiries — on everything from the failures that preceded the Trump rally shooting to general questions about the impact of gun violence. It was a particularly rare note of agreement for a panel that has openly and bitterly fought over a broad impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, and a bad sign for Cheatle’s hopes of hanging on.
“This committee is not known for … its model of bipartisanship, but I think today we came together unanimously in our disappointment in your lack of answers,” Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told Cheatle.
Cheatle’s position seemed to deteriorate as the hearing went on and the number of lawmakers piling on her for non-answers and shrugs began to climb.
Democrats were equally frustrated. Progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) told Cheatle that she didn’t believe “any of our concerns have been addressed today, and what little we’ve learned has not inspired much confidence.” And in a potential precursor of more calls to come, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the panel, and a handful of other Democrats joined widespread GOP calls for Cheatle to resign. Both Comer and Raskin sent a letter to Cheatle officially demanding that she step aside after the hearing concluded.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), one of the Democrats who called on her to resign, compared Cheatle’s performance on Monday to an unrelated hearing earlier this year with three university presidents, two of whom subsequently resigned.
“That’s how this is going for you. This is where this is headed,” he said, saying that he supports Cheatle resigning or being fired.
Republicans and Democrats repeatedly expressed a shared sense of outrage that the world’s premier law enforcement agency could allow a 20-year-old to get a clear shot at the former president.
“You’re not doing well, as Mr. Moskowitz informed you,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) added.
Cheatle acknowledged that the assassination attempt was the “most significant operational failure” for the agency in decades. But she followed that admission with a series of evasive answers about the details of what went wrong, repeatedly citing the ongoing review or deferring to the FBI, which is also leading an investigation.
But that caveat bought her little goodwill with members of the committee. Instead, they repeatedly pressed her to give them answers on details, including how the gunman was able to get on a roof roughly 150 yards away from Trump, why Trump was allowed onto the stage and what actions the Secret Service has taken since the shooting.
“This is not just a single shooting, this is about national security and the security of our democracy,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.). “It’s not just one operational failure. This is about: Are our public officials safe?”
“The answers that we’ve received here in this hearing today are completely unsatisfactory,” Stansbury added.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), in remarks that sparked pushback from Democrats, told Cheatle that she was “full of shit today.” Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the Oversight Committee, added that it looked like she wouldn’t “answer some pretty basic questions.”
Cheatle did delve into some of the circumstances surrounding the Saturday shooting. She told lawmakers that, while she didn’t have a specific number, she believed “there was some sort of communication” about a suspicious individual to the Secret Service between two and five times. She also told lawmakers that the gunman’s vehicle was outside of the security perimeter and that the Secret Service didn’t know the gunman had a weapon when they allowed Trump to walk out onto the stage.
But that was only a fraction of the long list of questions that Cheatle faced on Monday.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) warned Cheatle that the absence of information had helped fuel conspiracy theories about the shooting and that members were “begging” for details to help rebut them.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called on Cheatle to resign and repeatedly questioned why she wouldn’t. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told her that it was “not acceptable” to wait weeks before giving more detailed answers about the security failures. And Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) asked Cheatle why she was answering “fewer” questions from lawmakers than she did during an ABC News interview that has sparked scrutiny.
“I don’t like the fact that the media has received far more answers than Congress has. … You should have come prepared here today,” Goldman told Cheatle.
Cheatle further rankled Democrats with her refusal to grapple with questions about the dangers guns pose to Secret Service protectees. They specifically pushed her on the threat posed by semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15 style rifle used in the Trump shooting.
“The ubiquity of guns, dangerous weapons in America like AR-15s, has that made your job — that is to say the mission of the Secret Service — easier or more difficult?” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) asked.
“I think the threat environment for protecting our Secret Service protectees is always difficult and that’s dynamic,” Cheatle responded, apparently wary of wading into an argument about regulating firearms. “I understand the Second Amendment rights of individuals.”
“I didn’t ask that question. I’m not questioning the Second Amendment,” Connolly shot back. “You’re not making my job easier in terms of assessing your qualifications for continuing on as director.”
Connolly, shortly after the hearing ended, called on Cheatle to resign.