(LibertySociety.com) – On July 23, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned, one day after she testified about the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump in a House Oversight Committee hearing.
In her resignation letter, she said she took “full responsibility for the security lapse,” adding she made the decision to resign “with a heavy heart.”
During the July 22 House Oversight Committee hearing, Cheatle repeatedly refused to answer questions about the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump, who had just taken the stage to speak at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally. She could not say why Secret Service agents did not investigate Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, after they were alerted to his suspicious behavior. Many in the crowd had noticed the shooter about 30 minutes before and had alerted law enforcement. She also could not explain why agents were not on the roof where Crooks was located, which was 164 yards away from the stage where Trump was speaking.
At the end of the hearing, House Oversight Chairman, Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, and the top member of the panel, Democrat Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, called for her resignation.
Republican Florida Rep. Greg Steube and Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace both filed articles of impeachment against Cheatle, which were not taken up due to her resignation. Mace said that Cheatle was “being completely dishonest” during the hearing. Steube said the attempted assassination was an “international embarrassment and an inexcusable tragedy.”
In a statement after her resignation, Comer said, “There will be more accountability to come,” noting that “egregious security failures” led to the assassination attempt of Trump, “the murder of an innocent victim,” and injuries to two other men attending the rally.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said he was “grateful” for her public service, where she “selflessly dedicated and risked her life.” He also thanked her for leading the Secret Service during his Administration.
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