The Bakersfield Californian

Scrutiny of director intensifie­s

Cheatle subpoenaed by House for testimony, asked to resign

- BY REBECCA SANTANA AND KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountabi­lity Committee issued a subpoena Wednesday to the Secret Service director compelling her to appear before the committee on Monday for what is scheduled to be the first congressio­nal hearing into the attempted assassinat­ion of former President Donald Trump.

And even before the first hearing Republican calls for Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign intensifie­d Wednesday with top Republican leaders from both the House and the Senate saying she should step down. The director has said she has no intention of resigning.

Rep. James Comer said initially that the Secret Service committed to her attendance but that Homeland Security officials appear to have intervened and there has been no “meaningful updates or informatio­n” shared with the committee.

Comer said the “lack of transparen­cy and failure to cooperate” with the committee called into question Cheatle’s ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitat­es the subpoena.

Cheatle has said the agency understand­s the importance of a review ordered by Democratic President Joe Biden and would fully participat­e in it as well as with congressio­nal committees looking into the shooting.

“The assassinat­ion attempt of the former President and current Republican nominee for president represents a total failure of the agency’s core mission and demands Congressio­nal oversight,” Comer wrote in a letter to Cheatle.

The subpoena was just one of a series of developmen­ts that occurred Wednesday in the wake of the Saturday assassinat­ion attempt.

The fact that a shooter was able to get so close to the former president while he’s supposed to be closely guarded has raised questions about what security plans the agency tasked with taking a bullet for its protectees put in place and who is ultimately responsibl­e for allowing the 20-year-old gunman to climb a roof where he had a clear line of sight to a former president.

Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would be setting up a task force to investigat­e security failures that occurred during the assassinat­ion attempt. He also said he would be calling on Cheatle to resign from her post as director of the Secret Service, saying on Fox News Channel without elaboratin­g, “I think she’s shown what her priorities are.”

He said the task force would be composed of Republican­s and Democrats and its formation would speed up the investigat­ive process.

Johnson said he has not received satisfacto­ry answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or leaders at the FBI.

“We must have accountabi­lity for this. It was inexcusabl­e,”

The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service.”

— Kimberly Cheatle

Johnson said. “Obviously, there were security lapses. You don’t have to be a special ops expert to understand that. And we’re going to get down to the bottom of it quickly.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, added his name to the list of lawmakers calling for Cheatle to step down. He said on the social media platform X that the near assassinat­ion of Trump was a “grave attack on American democracy.”

“The nation deserves answers and accountabi­lity,” McConnell tweeted. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.”

The House Homeland Security Committee also invited several state and local law enforcemen­t officials from Pennsylvan­ia to testify at a hearing in the coming days with Rep. Mark Green, the committee’s chairman, saying their accounts of events were critical to the investigat­ion.

A key issue in the unfolding aftermath of the shooting is how security responsibi­lities were divided between Secret Service and local law enforcemen­t at the rally and what breakdowns occurred that eventually allowed the gunman onto the roof.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on the subpoena.

Cheatle said during an interview Monday with ABC News that the shooting should never have happened, but also said she has no plans to resign.

When asked who bears the most responsibi­lity for the shooting happening, she said: “What I would say is the Secret Service is responsibl­e for the protection of the former president.”

“The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service,” she said.

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, on Wednesday said: “Director Kimberly Cheatle is proud to work alongside the dedicated men and women of the U.S. Secret Service and has no intention to resign.”

So far, she has the support of the administra­tion. “I have 100% confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service. I have 100% confidence in the United States Secret Service,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday.

But in addition to the congressio­nal inquiries, Cheatle and the Secret Service are also facing an inquiry by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.

In a brief notice posted to the inspector general’s website Tuesday, the agency said the objective of the probe is to “Evaluate the United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service) process for securing former President Trump’s July 13, 2024 campaign event.”

The agency also said Wednesday that it is launching a review of the agency’s Counter Sniper Team’s “preparedne­ss and operations.”

“Our objective is to determine the extent to which the Secret Service Counter Sniper Team is prepared for, and responds to, threats at events attended by designated protectees,” the inspector general’s office said.

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