Former United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday in response to mounting pressure following the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Fox News confirmed the news after reviewing the letter sent by Cheatle to the U.S. Secret Service earlier that day. This came just a day after she faced bipartisan heat during testimony before the House Oversight Committee and over a week since Thomas Crooks, an attempted assassin, tried to take Trump’s life at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
In her letter to the agency, Cheatle took full responsibility for the security lapse that occurred during the event. She stated that the scrutiny over the past week had been intense and would continue to remain as their operational tempo increased. President Joe Biden expressed his gratitude towards Kim Cheatle for her decades of public service and confirmed that he will be appointing a new director soon.
Biden praised Cheatle’s integrity, saying, “As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.” He further added that the incident could never happen again as they move forward, wishing Kim all the best.
Though Cheatle acknowledged that the incident does not define the Secret Service, she admitted under oath that there was a significant security lapse on July 13th. She emphasized that her agency’s agents, officers, and support personnel understand that they are expected to sacrifice their lives to execute a no-fail mission.
House Republicans, including House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, had been calling for Cheatle’s resignation, referring to her and the agency under her watch as “the face of incompetence.” Despite these calls for her resignation, Cheatle maintained that she would not step down but instead appeared before Congress to answer questions for the American people.
During her testimony, Cheatle explained that the decision was made to secure the building from inside because it had a sloped roof at its highest point, which posed safety concerns. She added that although the building was outside the perimeter on the day of the visit, they felt there was a sufficient number of agents assigned to the event. Trump’s security detail reportedly asked for additional personnel to be present during the rally.
As the investigation into the incident continues, it is clear that significant lessons must be learned from this near-tragedy to ensure that such an event does not occur again in the future.