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Secret Service Director Admits ‘Colossal Failure’ During Trump Shooting, Refuses to Resign

Rep. Tim Burchett: ‘Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story’

Published: July 22, 2024
  |   By Chris Karr
Secret Service Director Admits ‘Colossal Failure’ During Trump Shooting, Refuses to Resign

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced harsh questions from lawmakers during a testimony before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday.


After the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13, lawmakers and pundits have demanded Cheatle’s resignation.

Those demands were echoed by House members during the director’s appearance, which was mandated by a subpoena issued by committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) last week.

After telling Comer that the building manned by the shooter – which was reportedly about 150 to 200 yards from the rally stage – was “outside of the perimeter” that should be secured, Cheatle addressed her previous comments about the “safety factor” of the building’s sloped roof.

“There was a plan in place to provide overwatch and we are still looking into responsibilities and who was going to provide overwatch,” she testified. “But the Secret Service in general, not speaking specifically to this incident, when we are providing overwatch … prefer to have sterile rooftops.”

When Cheatle admitted that the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been identified as “suspicious,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked, “Why was [Trump] allowed to take the stage with a suspicious person having been identified in the crowd?”

The Secret Service director then indicated there is a distinction between a suspicious individual and someone who poses a threat.

“There are a number of times at protective events where suspicious people are identified, and those individuals have to be investigated and determined what is it that identifies that person as suspicious,” she said.


Later, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) asked, “Why was President Trump allowed onstage 10 minutes after the Secret Service spotted a suspicious individual? That seems to me to be the worst thing of all … all the BS you’ve been feeding us here today, or not feeding us, that seems to be the question.”

“There are a number of events where suspicious people may be identified. That doesn’t necessarily—” Cheatle said before being cut off by Burchett.

The Tennessee representative ended his question by saying she should be fired, referring to her as “a DEI horror story.”


During an exchange with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Cheatle dismissed reports that Trump’s team was denied more security at the Pennsylvania rally.

“Well, maybe they got tired of asking,” Jordan said. “Maybe you turned them down so darn much they said, ‘Not worth asking.’”

“Looks like you won’t answer some pretty basic questions,” he concluded after his questioning. “It looks like you got a nine percent raise and you cut corners when it came to protecting one of the most important individuals, most well-known individuals on the planet — a former president. … Looks like you guys were cutting corners. That’s what it looks like to me. Is that true?”

“I am here to today because I want to answer questions but I also want to be cautious,” she began before Jordan cut her off.

“You might want to, but I don’t think you’ve answered one question from the chairman, the ranking member, or me,” he interrupted.


Cheatle agreed with Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that the shooting represented the greatest security lapse since the attempted assassination against Ronald Reagan in 1981.

“Do you know what [former Secret Service director] Stuart Knight did, afterwards?” Khanna asked.

“He remained on duty,” Cheatle replied.

“He resigned,” Khanna said. “He resigned. … I just don’t think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, former president, or a candidate, you need to resign.”


During Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) line of “yes-or-no” questioning, Cheatle acknowledged that the shooting represented a “colossal failure” on behalf of the Secret Service.

After Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) asked if communications were routinely recorded, Cheatle said, "Depending on the detail, radio communications are recorded." However, she said they do not have "radio communications" from the July 13 event.


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took Cheatle to task over the stated 60 days needed for a full report, calling the timeframe “not acceptable.”

“This is not theater, this is not about jockeying,” she said. “This is about the safety of some of the most highly targeted and valued targets – internationally and nationally. … It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States. Regardless of party, there need to be answers.”

After Ocasio-Cortez stated that an AR-15 weapon has a range of about 400 to 800 yards, she asked, “Why is the Secret Service protective perimeter shorter than one of the most popular semiautomatic weapons in the United States?”

“There are a number of weapons out there with a number of ranges,” Cheatle replied. “Again, an advance was completed. The determination of the perimeter, I’m not gonna speak to specifics, but there are a number of factors that are taken into account when we determine our perimeter.”


When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) asked why Crooks was able to fly a drone over the area of the rally on the day of his assassination attempt, Cheatle said she would “have to go back and check the timeline.”

“Why didn’t you bring the timeline with you today to answer our questions?” the lawmaker shot back. “Were you not prepared today?”

When Cheatle said she was prepared “to answer the questions based on the information and wanted to be able to provide,” Green cut her off and asked, “Do you have a timeline at all from any of the day?”

“I have a timeline that does not have specifics,” she responded.

“That’s shocking,” Greene said, as attendees began laughing off-camera. “That is absolutely unacceptable. That means you are a failure at your job.”


"People under your command don't perceive a man laying on a roof with direct line to the president with a gun, they don't perceive that to be a threat, yet the people in the crowed do," the Georgia lawmaker said. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not certain at this time how the information from the people in the crowd was relayed to any law enforcement personnel," Cheatle said.

"The people there knew that there was a danger, they knew there was a threat to President Trump, and it was allowed to happen," Greene said. "Was there a stand down order, Ms. Cheatle? Was there a conspiracy to kill President Trump."

"Absolutely not," the director said.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article did not include the exchange between Greene and Cheatle reported in the final four paragraphs of this article, which has also been updated to include information from Cheatle's exchange with Fry.

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