Appearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, stonewalling the congressional committee members, tried to memory-hole her woke ways while testifying about the presidential protection agency's response to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
CLAIM: "You spent some time trying to change the makeup of the Secret Service. You feel there's too high a percentage of men. Does this affect at all who you are hiring for the Secret Service?" GOP Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin prodded Cheatle.
"I've spent my time as the director trying to increase the number of people that we hire in the Secret Service so that we have the best and the brightest and that's been my concentration as director," an evasive Cheatle, dodging the direct question, replied.
"Okay, were you ever not hiring men because of your desire to hit certain targets?" Grothman pressed.
"I am hiring the best-qualified candidates that put in an application that want to work for our great organization," Cheatle retorted, continuing to sidestep actually answering Grothman's line of questioning.
Grothman grilled Cheatle further: "Could you elaborate [on] why you want one-third of the Secret Service to be women?"
"I've never stated that I want one-third of the Secret Service to be women," Cheatle categorically denied.
"30 percent or something. You had some target, no?" Grothman asked again, to which Cheatle didn't respond.
GROTHMAN: "Could you elaborate on why you want one-third of the Secret Service to be women?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 22, 2024
CHEATLE: "I've never stated that I want one-third of the Secret Service to be women."
GROTHMAN: "30% or something. You had some target? No?"
CHEATLE: *stays silent* pic.twitter.com/H40yPlb9Dz
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FACTS: In a May 2023 interview with CBS News addressing controversies and recruitment-and-retention challenges the Secret Service has faced since she took the reins, Cheatle aired the diversity goal she had set. According to the CBS Mornings report, Cheatle aimed to have 30 percent female recruits by the year 2030 as part of efforts to expand hiring while prioritizing diversity.
"I'm very conscious, as I sit in this chair now, of making sure that we need to attract diverse candidates and ensure that we are developing and giving opportunities to everybody in our workforce — and particularly women," Cheatle said in the sit-down interview at a Secret Service facility outside Washington.
Director of Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle said she’s aiming to make the Secret Service more diverse and hire more women.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 14, 2024
This female agent couldn’t even holster her gun today during the attempted ass*ss*nat*on of Trump.
DEI hire?? pic.twitter.com/0tgBZqXstC
In 2022, the Secret Service reportedly saw a departure rate of 48 percent, partly due to the high demands of the job.
To combat the record number of drop-outs, Cheatle's agency even allowed YouTube influencer Michelle Khare to train with Secret Service agents, apparently in hopes of encouraging her followers to join the ranks.
Khare's corresponding YouTube video, titled "I Tried Secret Service Academy," amassed 13 million views. "I am a YouTuber and somehow I have managed to convince the United States Secret Service to let me train with them for a week," Khare said in the 41-minute montage. As authorized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the agency hosted an all-out training exercise, complete with an Air Force One-style plane, a motorcade, a makeshift town, and fake firearms, for the five-foot-two female daredevil to role-play as a Secret Service recruit.
At the end of the program, after being awarded a certificate of completion, Khare was also afforded the opportunity to talk to Alfonso M. Dyson. chief of the USSS uniformed division, whom she "ask[ed] the question we've all been wondering": "What is the secret?"
Social media footage from the attack on the former commander-in-chief shows some female Secret Service agents experiencing difficulty trying to fully shield a far-taller Trump. One agent appeared to struggle to holster her firearm as a wounded Trump was whisked away, leaving many speculating if she was an underqualified DEI hire.
Cheatle had outlined her marching orders in the Secret Service's FY2023-2027 strategic plan. "We must embrace diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) across the agency," one of the objectives read. "DEIA must be demonstrated by all employees — leading by example — through 'every action every day.'"
Spencer covered how exactly Cheatle, whose USSS service started under President Bill Clinton, was hired and landed her job as top dog of the Secret Service, a role that's not confirmed by the Senate. As it turns out, Cheatle has friends in high places. Cheatle's ascension is owed largely to a close contact in the White House: First Lady Jill Biden. In 2022, Cheatle was plucked by the Biden administration from her posh position as PepsiCo's senior director of global security. Sources told The New York Post that Cheatle was "well liked by the future first lady and her most senior aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal." Via The Post:
"Cheatle served on Dr. Biden's second lady detail and Anthony pushed for her," a Democratic insider told The Post. "Anthony has no national security or law enforcement experience. He should have no influence over the selection of the USSS director."
"I heard at the time she was being considered for director that Anthony had pushed her forward as an option," another well-placed source told The Post.
[...]
"Anthony is obsessed with being DEI-compliant," a third source told The Post, using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion — the human resources practice of attempting to ensure diversity in the workforce.
A recipient of the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Public Service Award, Cheatle was featured in Security magazine's 2022 list of "Women in Security," where the USSS director raved about her achievements in "a male-dominated industry" and said she kept a photo on her office desk of "the first five women sworn into the service" to pay homage to the women who came before her.
"I used that to remind me that these women created opportunities for me and I can help others grow and lead as well," Cheatle reminisced.
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