President Joe Biden’s Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle failed to answer whether shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks carried the firearm to the rooftop or if it was already there before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Cheatle also failed to answer when the last sweep occurred ahead of Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Director, your agency has a no fail mission, and on Saturday, July 13, your agency spectacularly failed. The failure resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore and serious injury of two other rally attendees,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) noted during Monday’s House Oversight Committee at a hearing, titled, Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump.
The Congressman then said “it is unfathomable” that 20-year-old Crooks “was able to climb onto the roof of a building with a rifle and fire off multiple rounds before he was neutralized.”
“Was the gun already on the roof or did the shooter carry the gun up with him?” Rep. Biggs asked, to which Cheatle responded, “I do not have that information at this time.”
The Congressman then asked Biden’s Secret Service director, “When was the last sweep of that roof done prior to the rally?” to which Cheatle, again, dodged the question, failing to provide an answer.
“I do not have that information at this time,” she said.
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Committee on Oversight and AccountabilityRep. Biggs then called on Cheatle to resign after accusing her of “stonewalling.”
“You should’ve come today ready to give us answers,” he said. “I call upon you to resign today. Today.”
Elsewhere in the hearing, the Congressman asked Cheatle, “What did the technical service division determine was going to be the event perimeter?” to which Biden’s Secret Service director replied, “We are still gathering reports. We are interviewing individuals.”
As Breitbart News reported, Cheatle told Rep. James Comer (R-KY) that the building from which Crooks shot President Trump was “outside the perimeter” of what needed to be secured at the rally — despite that building being less than 500 feet away from the 45th president.
The Secret Service director was subpoenaed following her failure to prevent a sniper from shooting at President Trump on July 13.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight Committee about the failed assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. https://t.co/GBOnxi6P4x
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 22, 2024
Cheatle, who was appointed by Biden in August 2022 and reports to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas — who has been impeached — is facing calls for her resignation, but said last week that she has no intentions to step down.
Notably, it was recently reported that top officials within the Secret Service have denied requests to increase the security for President Trump over the past two years.
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