US Secret Service chief set for grilling by Congress over Trump shooting
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The shooting incident has angered lawmakers.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON - US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle will undergo a grilling on July 22 at a congressional hearing into her agency’s failure to prevent a would-be assassin from wounding Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
Ms Cheatle is due to appear before the House of Representatives’ Oversight and Accountability Committee at 10am (10pm Singapore time) to be questioned by lawmakers. The Secret Service chief is facing calls for her resignation from top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
On July 24, Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray will appear before the House Judiciary Committee.
The July 13 shooting at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, wounded Trump in the ear, killed one rally attendee and injured another. The suspected shooter, 20-year-old nursing home aide Thomas Crooks, was killed by law enforcement.
The incident has angered lawmakers, who say the suspect was able to get within range of Trump on the rooftop of a nearby building because of security lapses at Ms Cheatle’s agency, which is charged with protecting presidents and former presidents.
The House Judiciary Committee said on July 18 that it has evidence the Secret Service was not properly resourced for Trump’s rally because of staffing shortages created by a rival campaign event in Pittsburgh with First Lady Jill Biden and a Nato summit held days before in Washington.
President Joe Biden on July 21 ended his floundering re-election bid, endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the Democrat candidate. He vowed to serve through the end of his term on Jan 20, 2025.
Mr Johnson initially called on Ms Cheatle to resign, then said Mr Biden should fire her a day after she and Mr Wray briefed members of Congress on the shooting.
The Speaker has also said he plans to set up a bipartisan House task force to investigate the attempted assassination.
Republican Senators John Barrasso and Marsha Blackburn also confronted Ms Cheatle by shouting at her on the floor of the Republican National Convention earlier in July, only to be ignored.
“She can run. She cannot hide,” Ms Blackburn said afterwards.
So far, Ms Cheatle has defied calls for her departure.
“Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
“She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learnt in these important internal and external reviews.”
Republican Senator Marco Rubio said the Secret Service’s handling of the Trump rally and the aftermath of the shootings provide “a prime example” of how not to proceed on such matters. He told reporters: “Every day that goes by and we don’t have clarity on all of this is one more day that you are giving people doubts about the very institution.” REUTERS
