Pretty much from the start, the reports about how the U.S. Secret Service handled the assassination attempt against former and potentially future President Donald Trump on July 13 have been damning. It was thus likely that Director Kimberly Cheatle was going to have a pretty awful time testifying before Congress. Cheatle just earlier on Monday wrapped up testifying before the House Oversight Committee, after which Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) both signed a letter calling for her to resign
The letter has been shared to both parties' X accounts and is the pinned post for House Republicans on the Oversight Committee.
🚨BREAKING- Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin call for United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) July 22, 2024
Director Cheatle:
On July 13, 2024, the United States Secret Service under your leadership failed to protect former President Donald Trump… pic.twitter.com/rTgMjmyGzr
— Oversight Committee Democrats (@OversightDems) July 22, 2024
"Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures. In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing," the brief letter reads in part. "We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people," the letter continued.
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As the letter has been circulating over X, many users have pointed out that this is a rare form of agreement between Comer and Raskin on the Committee.
Comer & Raskin call for Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to resign after today’s disastrous hearing about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) July 22, 2024
A rare point of agreement for these two. pic.twitter.com/tHrS5VEByt
WOW. You never see this happen https://t.co/VuWUa616QI
— Storm Paglia 🇺🇸 (@storm_paglia) July 22, 2024
While many Democrats chose to use their time to focus on gun control, they also went after Cheatle as well, including Raskin, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), and even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) came off as particularly appalled at Cheatle, even using explicit language during her time. Mace asked the director if she'd like to use the five minutes allotted to draft up her resignation letter, but Cheatle declined.
Rep. Nancy Mace: “Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter?"
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 22, 2024
Cheatle: “No thank you.”pic.twitter.com/uNSx2rd87a
Also on Monday, Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), who sits on the Committee, drafted a resolution calling for the termination of Cheatle.
"U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle must be held accountable for the unacceptable failure to keep President Trump and rallygoers safe on July 13th," said Langworthy. "In our Oversight hearing today, she did nothing but dodge questions and deflect blame. Corey Comperatore is dead because of this failure of the Secret Service. The American people deserve transparency and competence from their leaders, especially those tasked with the critical responsibility of protecting our nation's highest office. She must be fired now."
In @GOPoversight, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle did nothing but dodge questions and deflect blame. Corey Comperatore is dead because of the Secret Service's failure.
— Congressman Nick Langworthy (@RepLangworthy) July 22, 2024
The American people deserve transparency and competence — Director Cheatle must be fired now. pic.twitter.com/xlykyJLKdd
Even after Monday's hearing came to a close, more damning information has continued to come out. As Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) shared, whistleblowers have come forth with information that law enforcement was stationed on the roof on the day of the Trump rally, but went back inside because it was considered too hot.
He also posted a letter directed to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking additional questions that he expects to hear back about on July 26.
NEW - Whistleblowers tell me law enforcement personnel were in fact STATIONED to the roof the day of the Trump rally, but abandoned it, citing the heat. They also say law enforcement were supposed to be patrolling the building, but opted to stay inside instead pic.twitter.com/aIVNSPHUF6
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 22, 2024
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