The director of the Secret Service - Kimberly Cheatle admitted to the US Congress today that she and her office failed in the case of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Reuters reported. The candidate of the Republican Party for president was injured earlier this month during a pre-election demonstration in the state of Pennsylvania, writes BTA.
"We failed. As the director of the US Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security breach,'' Cheatle, whose removal from office is being pushed by the Republican Party, said during his hearing before the House Oversight Committee (the lower house of the US Congress). "The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades,", she added.
In response to accusations by Republicans that her office denied reinforcements for Trump's security, the director said the number of security guards for the former president had been increased before the shooting. "The security level for the former president was raised significantly for his campaign and methodically increased as threats developed. Our mission is not political. For us, it's literally a matter of life and death," Cheatle also said.
Today's hearing is the first stage of the investigation by the US Congress into the attempted assassination of Trump. FBI Director Christopher Wray will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, with Chairman Mike Johnson expected to introduce a bipartisan task force intended to be a liaison in the House investigation.
So far, Cheatle has resisted calls to resign from top Republicans, including Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Reuters noted.
House Oversight Committee member James Kamer, a Republican, made the same call during today's hearing. "I strongly believe that you, Director Cheatle, should resign," the Kentucky Republican told the Secret Service chief. "The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a substantial budget. But now the Secret Service is the epitome of incompetence," he added.
"Unacceptable incidents like this underscore the fact that we are an increasingly divided nation that is under heightened political tension,” said Democratic Rep. Jerry Connolly.
The shooting at Trump's campaign rally on an outdoor stage in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13 left him wounded in the right ear, killing one attendee and wounding two others. The suspected shooter, 20-year-old nursing home caretaker Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by law enforcement after the shooting. It is not clear what his motive was.
The incident angered congressmen, who said the suspect was able to take Trump at gunpoint from the roof of a building near the stage because of security lapses at Cheatle's agency, which is responsible for guarding the current president and his predecessors in office.
The House Judiciary Committee announced last week that it had evidence of the Secret Service's inadequate preparation for Trump's campaign rally because of staffing shortages created by a rival rally by President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, in another city. in the state of Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh, and the NATO summit a few days earlier in Washington (July 9-11).
Cheetle told lawmakers that her service guards thirty-six people a day, including world leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is expected to speak in the US Parliament this week.