Will Secret Service boss Kimberly Cheatle face perjury charges amid calls to resign? ‘We are all sitting ducks with you’

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Monday faced severe questioning at the House Oversight Committee's hearing in the wake of the agency's failure over assassination attempt against Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Republicans led the grilling of Cheatle in a nearly five-hour hearing, with Democrats jumping in as well. They frequently questioned her for responses they deemed inadequate.

The Secret Service boss is now facing bipartisan calls to resign amid dissatisfaction with her testimony over her agency's inability to protect Trump during a campaign rally.

Several GOP lawmakers sought Cheatle's resignation, with Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top ranking Democrat on the committee, urging her to quit as the gunman was able to open fire at a Trump rally.

A 20-year-old gunman used an AR-15-style rifle to kill one protestor and injure two others at a Trump campaign rally. Following the incident, several bipartisan investigations and actions have been launched in an effort to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which almost claimed the life of Trump. The shooting left a 2cm wound in Trump's ear. The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was eliminated on the spot.

Kimberly Cheatle testifies on Trump assassination attempt

Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, stated in his opening remarks, “The Secret Service has a zero-fail mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally.”

He further mentioned that Secret Service has thousands of employees and significant budget, but it has now "become the face of incompetence."

Cheatle's initial testimony fumed legislators after she bypassed key questions by citing pending investigations. She called the horrific incident the Secret Service's most catastrophic operational blunder in decades.

“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” Cheatle said at the start of congressional hearing.

Taking accountability of the incident, she said: “I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations… I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again.” She went on to call herself “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”

Also Read: Lara Trump issues big statement on Secret Service boss following assassination attempt

Both parties express extreme dissatisfaction over Cheatles' testimony

Extremely displeased with Cheatle's testimony, Republicans and Democrats wrote a joint letter after the hearing in which Comer and Raskin called for Cheatle's resignation.

According to the letter, Cheatle “failed to reassure” the Americans that the “agency has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures.” They further criticised her for failing to provide “answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure.”

Some of the questions that lawmakers asked Cheatle, include how the shooter was able to carry out his rampage and gain access to the roof where he carried out the horrific attack, how Trump was allowed to enter the stage even after a "suspicious person" was spotted, and why she hasn't resigned from her position yet.

“Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive — and thank God he is — you look incompetent. If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable,” stated GOP Representative Mike Turner of Ohio, the chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee.

Cheatle responded that she was answering to inquiries she's able to answer on the basis of facts since multiple investigations are underway.

Asking Cheatle a series of questions, GOP South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace told her: “You’re just being completely dishonest.” She even suggested her to start drafting her resignation letter, to which Cheatle responded, “No, thank you!”

Mace also introduced a privileged motion to impeach Cheatle. “The House has NEVER voted on an impeachment of an inferior civil officer … but historic times call for historic measures,” she wrote on X.

Echoing similar views on her testimony, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat, termed Secret Service boss' answers as “completely unsatisfactory.”

Like other lawmakers, Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, called on Cheatle to resign, saying: “You do need to be fired immediately, and it is because this is gross incompetence.”

“This is a joke, and Director, you’re in charge, and that’s why you need to go,” he added.

When Cheatle mentioned a timeframe of 60 days for the completion of an internal probe, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retorted this “is not acceptable”, citing the threat environment in the United States ahead of the November elections, which are just 100 days away.

Secret Service boss to face perjury, inherent contempt charges?

Meanwhile, a congresswoman from Florida requested for inherent contempt and perjury charges against the director, who claimed she was unaware of any law enforcement group text chain containing suspicions about the gunman.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna blasted Cheatle for declining to respond to some inquiries.

“You have perjured yourself. I ask that we bring perjury charges against the Director. We are prepared to hold you in contempt!”

“Every single member of Congress does not feel safe with you in charge. I think we are all sitting ducks with you directing the Secret Service,” she added.

Denouncing her hearing “terrible”, she said: “Actually there’s been multiple calls bipartisan for her to resign. And as a result of that, I think to expedite her resignation, I’m thinking about bringing an inherent contempt vote to the floor.”

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