The House Oversight Committee held embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s feet to the fire Monday, with some members not holding back in expressing their disdain for her oversight of the agency after former President Trump was nearly killed in a deadly assassination attempt at a rally earlier this month.
“You are full of s–t!” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) shouted after Cheatle sidestepped questions about whether the Secret Service had addressed the committee’s demand for the names of all law enforcement personnel who worked the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, as well as any audio or video recordings of the event in the agency’s possession.
“Have you provided a list to the Oversight Committee, yes or no?” the rep asked bluntly.
“I would have to get back to you–” Cheatle started before Mace cut her off mid-sentence.
“That is a no. You’re full of s–t today. You’re just being completely dishonest,” the congresswoman spat.
“These are important questions that the American people want answers to. And you’re just dodging and talking around in generalities,” she continued. “This isn’t hard. These are not hard questions.”
Cheatle did little to curry favor with the bipartisan panel, peppering her remarks and answers with evasive language that repeatedly drew members’ ire.
Though she admitted that the near-assassination of Trump was the agency’s “most significant operational failure in decades,” she still graded agents an “A” for that day and reiterated her defiance of growing calls to resign.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) began by asking about the 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan, and what action the then-head of the Secret Service did in the aftermath.
“Do you know what Stewart Knight did? He was in charge at the time, of the Secret Service.”
Everything we know about the Trump assassination attempt
- 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified as the shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
- Crooks was shot dead by Secret Service agents.
- The gunman grazed Trump’s ear, killed a 50-year-old retired fire chief, and injured two other rally-goers.
- Investigators detailed Crooks’ search history to lawmakers, revealing that he looked for the dates of Trump’s appearances and the Democratic National Convention.
- Crooks’ search history also revealed a broad interest in high-profile people and celebrities, regardless of their political affiliation, FBI officials reportedly said.
- Trump exclusively recounted surviving the “surreal” assassination attempt with The Post at the rally, remarking, “I’m supposed to be dead.”
- High-profile politicians, including President Biden and Vice President Harris, addressed the nation about the shooting, calling it “a heinous, horrible and cowardly act.”
“He remained on duty,” Cheatle responded.
Khanna quickly corrected her: “He resigned. He resigned.”
Khanna said he said it’s not a partisan issue adding that Knight “took responsibility” for the failure.
“If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign,” he said.
In a testy exchange with Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), the congressman slammed her tenure at the Secret Service, including a barb about her former private sector career.
“You know what else is dangerous? I believe your horrifying ineptitude and your lack of skilled leadership is a disgrace. You’re obfuscating today, it’s shameful. You should be fired immediately, and go back to guarding Doritos,” Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said in a mocking reference to Cheatle’s tenure as head of global security for PepsiCo.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) took a vicious swipe at Cheatle over claims she prioritized woke Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at the Secret Service over ensuring the agency hired the best and brightest.
“Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,” the congressman tore into her.
“I’ve told my daughter multiple times about how she’ll succeed in life by achieving. Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You have let the American public down,” he said, calling for her resignation.
Under the Secret Service’s watch, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was able to position himself on a rooftop less than 150 yards from Trump before he opened fire on the rally crowd, grazing Trump’s ear and critically wounded two other rallygoers, David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74.
Corey Comperatore, 50, a Trump-supporting former volunteer fighter chief, died shielding his family from the gunman’s bullets.