The director of the U.S. Secret Service told Congress Monday that the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was the “greatest operational failure at the Secret Service in decades” and took full responsibility for security lapses that day.
“The solemn mission of the Secret Service is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee. “As Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security failure. We are cooperating fully with ongoing investigations. We need to know what happened.”
During her first hearing before Congress, Cheatle also told the committee that she would move “heaven and earth” to ensure that what happened never happens again.
“Our mission is not political. It is literally a matter of life and death, as the tragic events of July 13 remind us,” she said. “I have complete confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service. They are worthy of our support as they carry out our protective mission.”
This is another big week for the Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington, D.C. — something the director focused on when he also oversaw security for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week.
Cheatle is currently facing questioning by the House Oversight Committee about her agency’s handling of security surrounding the attempted assassination of Trump.
She faced calls from several Republicans and at least one Democrat to resign after the former president was targeted at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Rep. John Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told Cheatle in his opening statement that he is among those who believe she should resign.
“I believe, Director Cheatle, that you should resign,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., also told Chatle during the hearing. Khanna added that his colleagues on both sides of the aisle want her to resign.
“I hope you consider it,” Khanna said.
Cheatle has said she will not resign.
Cheatle asked why no officer was stationed on the roof where the shooter fired from
The director of the Secret Service was asked Monday about her comments in an interview with ABC News about why agents were not posted on the roof of a building outside the rally’s security perimeter, where the suspected gunman fired from, because of the slope of the roof.
“I should have been clearer in my answer when I talked about where we were placing personnel in that interview. What I can tell you is that there was a plan to provide surveillance, and we’re still looking at responsibilities and who would provide surveillance, but the Secret Service in general, not speaking specifically about this incident, when we do provide surveillance, whether it’s through counter-snipers or other technology, we prefer sterile rooftops,” Cheatle said.
Cheatle also admitted that the FBI told her the shooter flew a drone over the protest site, but she did not go into further detail.
Why was Trump allowed on stage when there was a threat?
Cheatle said that if police had information about a potential threat to the former president, they would not have brought Trump onstage. However, she said that information was not passed on to them.
“If the detail had been given information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president on stage,” she said. “That’s what we do. That’s who we are. We’re charged with protecting all of our protected individuals. Distinguishing between someone who is suspicious and someone who is threatening. In some cases, in protective events where suspicious individuals are identified, those individuals need to be investigated and determined what identifies that individual as suspicious.”
She said the Secret Service did not know the suspect had a gun until former President Trump took the stage.
‘Clearly a malfunction’
Cheatle said she had read intelligence about Iran’s threat to former President Trump. The Iranians have long vowed revenge against Trump and members of his administration for the January 2020 killing of Iranian soldier Qasem Soleimani.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, said that when FBI Director Christopher Wray briefed members of Congress, he was “outraged” that the threat intelligence was not taken into account in planning the meeting.
“There was clearly a malfunction or a failure that day,” Cheatle said.
Cheatle also said Trump was not denied any staff or resources at the Butler meeting.
But Cheatle was also grilled about whether her agency had denied Trump the security services it had requested in the two years leading up to Saturday, as first reported by The Washington Post. Her agency initially denied it, but admitted it over the weekend.
In a statement to ABC News, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said: “In some cases where specific specialized Secret Service units or resources were not provided, the agency has made changes to ensure the safety of the protected person. This may include deploying state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce a protected person’s public exposure.”
“For the Butler event, there were no requests turned down,” she said.
Cheatle praised the officers guarding Trump for risking their lives to protect him with their bodies as shots were still being fired in their direction. She said that in less than three seconds, officers from Trump’s detachment swooped on the former president and helped secure him.
“I would give the agents and officers who selflessly threw themselves in front of the president and neutralized the threat an A. I think we need to investigate the events leading up to that day and leading up to it,” she said.
One shot kills shooter
Cheatle said a single shot was fired that took out the suspect by the Secret Service sniper, whom she had been speaking to since the attempted assassination.
Cheatle said she is “committed” to finding answers and that she has taken and “will continue to take” responsibility.
“I believe I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,” Cheatloe said, citing the increase in new hires since she took over as head of the service in 2022.
She also said that if anyone needs to be held accountable, she will do it.
“I have been a Secret Service agent for nearly 30 years. I have led with integrity and I follow our core values of duty, justice, honor, loyalty and courage, and I do so in this case, and I assure this committee that I will provide answers when we have a full and complete report, in addition to cooperating with all other investigations that are ongoing,” Cheatle said.
Several members of the commission expressed frustration that Cheatle refused to answer many of their questions, saying that “the facts of this particular event are still unfolding” and that the assassination attempt was only nine days ago.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) pressed Cheatle for answers, despite Cheatle saying the final report on the attempted assassination would not be ready for another 60 days.
“This is about the security of some of the most sought-after and valued targets internationally and domestically in the United States of America,” Ocasio Cortez told Cheatle. “So the idea that a report is going to be completed in 60 days, let alone before any actionable decisions are made, is just not acceptable. It’s been 10 days since there was an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States, regardless of party, there have to be answers.”
According to Ocasio-Cortez, Congress is “blind” when it comes to legislation they want to introduce as a result of the attempted assassination of Trump.
House Speaker Johnson Present
The hearing room was packed to standing room Monday as opening statements were delivered by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Cheatle. House Speaker Mike Johnson was also in attendance.
In a rare bipartisan statement, Raskin joined Comer in demanding that Cheatle testify after the Department of Homeland Security requested that her appearance be postponed, resulting in Comer being subpoenaed.
The DHS inspector general has opened three separate investigations into what went wrong, the FBI is currently leading a criminal investigation, and Johnson has committed resources to Congress for a separate investigation.
As head of the agency, Cheatle said it was her responsibility to investigate what went wrong and ensure it didn’t happen again.
“The responsibility is mine,” she told ABC News Chief Justice Pierre Thomas in an exclusive interview on July 15. “I’m the director of the Secret Service, and I have to make sure that we do an evaluation and that we give our personnel the resources that are necessary.”
According to a source familiar with the situation, Cheatle was in Milwaukee last week overseeing security for the Republican National Convention and met with the former president on Tuesday.
“Secret Service is not political,” she told ABC News. “Security is not political. People’s safety is not political. And that’s what we’re focused on as an agency.”
Republicans also indicated they would question Cheatle about past statements in which he said promoting diversity within the agency was a top priority.
The DHS pushed back against criticism of women on Trump’s security team.
“In the days following the attempted assassination of former President Trump, some individuals have made public statements questioning the presence of women in law enforcement, including the United States Secret Service,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior leaders wrote in a statement. “These claims are baseless and offensive.”