Facing mounting pressure for her resignation, Kimberly A. Cheatle, the Director of the Secret Service, is set to testify on Monday before the House oversight committee. The hearing is expected to involve rigorous questioning regarding her agency’s shortcomings following an incident where a would-be assassin injured former President Donald J. Trump.
Testimony Highlights
In an excerpt from her prepared testimony, Ms. Cheatle expressed her intention to take full responsibility for the security lapses that occurred during the rally in Butler, Pa. She plans to state, “The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed.” Ms. Cheatle further emphasizes her commitment to preventing such incidents in the future, stating, “We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to ensure an incident like July 13 does not happen again.”
Congressional Response
Representative James R. Comer, the Republican chairman of the oversight committee, is expected to characterize the shooting incident as “preventable” in his prepared remarks. He will assert, “The Secret Service has a zero-fail mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally.” Representative Comer will go on to criticize the agency, stating, “The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but it has now become the face of incompetence.”
