Frustration Mounts as Secret Service Head Kimberly Cheatle Skirts Questions During Grilling on the Hill

Members of the House Oversight Committee are growing frustrated as Secret Service head Kimberly Cheatle, in her first appearance before Congress, skirts lawmakers’ biggest questions and maintains that she is “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.” The chairman of the Committee, Congressman James Comer, began Monday’s meeting by calling for Ms. Cheatle to resign, adding that, “Americans demand accountability but no one has yet to be fired for this historic failure.” Mr. Comer also criticized Ms. Cheatle’s efforts to delay the hearing — a request she made last week, citing her commitment to providing security for the Republican National Committee meeting at Milwaukee.“It shouldn’t take this much time or preparation, Director Cheatle, to tell the truth, or be transparent with the American people,” Mr. Comer said. As Ms. Cheatle continued to provide carefully-crafted responses to lawmaker’s big-ticket questions, other committee members chimed in with calls for her to resign. “Not only should you resign, but if you refuse to do so, President Biden needs to fire you,” Congressman Michael Turner said. “Because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent. If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable,” he added. Leading up to Monday’s hearing, many sought an answer to why there weren’t any Secret Service agents covering the roof on which the shooter was stationed. The issue was raised in Mr. Comer’s first line of questioning. Ms. Cheatle, however, offered little clarity in her response: “We are still looking into the advance process and the decisions that were made,” she said. Her answer elicited an audible response from the committee. Congressman Jim Jordan expressed similar exasperation when Ms. Cheatle did not offer a definitive answer to his question regarding how many times the Secret Service had denied Trump’s requests for additional security. “You didn’t get briefed on how many times you turned down the Trump detail when they asked for additional help?” he asked. “What I can tell you is that in generic terms,” she responded, “when details make a request, there are times that there are alternate ways to cover off on that threat or that risk.” Mr. Jordan described her answer as “pretty darn frustrating not just for me, but for the country.” Ms. Cheatle did note, however, that for Saturday’s rally in Pennsylvania “the assets that were requested for that day were given.” Mr. Jordan was evidently unimpressed by her responses, accusing her of not answering “some pretty basic questions” adding that “it looks like you guys were cutting corners.” Another awkward moment came when Congressman Ro Khanna, who is a Democrat, asked Ms. Cheatle to recount how the head of the Secret Service under President Reagan responded to the assassination attempt on the 40th president.She incorrectly responded that “he stayed on,” prompting Mr. Khanna to correct her: “He resigned.”In spite of mounting calls from lawmakers for Ms. Cheatle to resign, she did not make any indication that she would step down from her post. “I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,” she said. She also struck down speculation that her relationship with first lady Jill Biden — forged while Ms. Cheatle was part of Mrs. Biden’s security detail while Mr. Biden served as vice president — influenced the president’s decision to select her as head of the Secret Service.“I got the job as the director of the Secret Service because I spent 27 years at an agency with a mission that I absolutely love,” Ms. Cheatle said.

Frustration Mounts as Secret Service Head Kimberly Cheatle Skirts Questions During Grilling on the Hill

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