Chief resigns amid Pa. debacle
Embattled Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle has announced she will resign from her post less than two weeks after the agency’s calamitous failure at Donald Trump’s July 13 campaign rally led to him being wounded by a sniper’s bullet.
Cheatle, a 28-year veteran of the agency, faced mounting pressure to step down in recent days but insisted all along she would remain on the job. She announced her resignation in a Tuesday morning staff letter.
“I have, and will always put the needs of this agency first. In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” Cheatle wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Post. She said she didn’t want the growing calls for her resignation to be “a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.”
As news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”
Cheatle’s No. 2, Deputy Director Ronald Rowe, will replace her as acting director.
Among her baffling remarks was an admission to ABC News that Secret Service agents weren’t posted on the roof where the gunman fired was because it was too “sloped,” an unacceptable “safety factor.”
At a House Oversight Committee meeting yesterday, Cheatle admitted the agency’s rally response was a “failure” but still gave her agents an “A” grade for the day.
Minutes after Cheatle tendered her resignation, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who called for her to step down last week, told reporters that she “should have done it sooner.”