National Security
Has the Secret Service Lost Its Credibility?
Has the Secret Service Lost Its Credibility?
Here’s The Scoop
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has stepped down following a blistering House Oversight Committee hearing that exposed the agency’s glaring failures in protecting former President Donald Trump. This resignation comes just one day after Cheatle struggled—or outright refused—to answer crucial questions about the near-assassination attempt on Trump.
“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” Cheatle admitted in an internal email to her staff, obtained by the Associated Press. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”
During Monday’s contentious hearing, Cheatle conceded that the assassination attempt at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was the “most significant operational failure” for the Secret Service in decades. Despite this admission, she initially resisted calls for her resignation, asserting she was the “best person” for the job.
However, Cheatle faltered when pressed on why the Secret Service had not interrogated the would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, after he had been flagged as suspicious. She could not explain why no agents were stationed on the roof from where Crooks fired at Trump, the number of agents present at the rally, or whether Crooks had acted alone.
Democratic Chairman of the committee and several other members, including Republicans, demanded her resignation by the end of the grueling three-hour session.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) bluntly stated on Tuesday:
“The Oversight Committee’s hearing resulted in Director Cheatle’s resignation, and there will be more accountability to come. The Secret Service has a no-fail mission, yet it failed historically on Director Cheatle’s watch. Egregious security failures leading up to and at the Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally resulted in the assassination attempt of President Trump, the murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd. While Director Cheatle’s resignation is a step toward accountability, we need a full review of how these security failures happened so that we can prevent them going forward.”
President Joe Biden, in a statement, praised Cheatle for her service but failed to address the magnitude of her agency’s shortcomings under his administration:
“Jill and I are grateful to Director Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service. She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service. We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our Administration and we are grateful for her service to our family.”
He added, “The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again.”
What do you think? Let us know by participating in our poll, or join the discussion in the comment section below!
Russ
July 29, 2024 at 7:20 am
“Risked her life”? Where or when? Sounds like a DEI soundbyte.
ralph w evitts
July 29, 2024 at 7:44 am
I fail to understand why the Secretary of the Cabinet that houses the Secret Service was not held accountable for the hire of this obviously incompetent Director. Someone else was calling some decisions on this day which is obvious, may have been an agent on site , a supervisory agent located elsewhere but definitely more than just these on site agents,
Mary
July 29, 2024 at 9:38 am
Like a member of the House Oversight Committee stated that Cheatle can go back to protecting Doritos chips. She has provedn to be worthless as a Secret Service Director.
Don
July 29, 2024 at 10:15 am
The truth is the whole government has except perhaps for 5%
Sam
July 29, 2024 at 1:54 pm
I’ve lost all respect for the secret service and FBI.
Terry Sutphin
July 29, 2024 at 4:48 pm
The secret service used to be non political and dedicated to their mission. Today I would not trust them with biden’s stupid dog. How sad!! I guess we have another woke agency we can defund and help homeless veterans.
Joseph William Stamper
July 29, 2024 at 5:56 pm
One mishap does not destroy one’s credibility!
Festus
September 18, 2024 at 8:24 am
It does when your mission is ZERO failures. The local Boy Scouts could have done a better job of securing the perimeter in butler
Jewell
July 29, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Given all that is known regarding the mess up in Pennsylvania I firmly believe Cheatle, Wray and Mayorkas should be charged and arrested for attempting to murder Donald J. Trump!!!
Tim Shep
August 4, 2024 at 9:55 am
This isn’t the only department that has been infested with the DEI woke socialists and this is why they fear Trump. He is exposing the corruption, graft and incompetency.