(The Center Square) – Two of Pennsylvania’s congressional lawmakers probed U.S. Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle on Monday about the agency’s communications minutes before a gunman opened fire at a July 13 campaign rally, nearly killing former president Donald Trump.
Like most members of the House Oversight Committee, however, they were left with more questions than answers.
Such as why the agents assigned to protect the former president that day were far shorter than his 6-foot-3-inch frame, at what point suspicious individuals become threats and under which conditions are events postponed or cancelled.
“The culture is what I’m concerned about because the primary objective here seems to be something other than securing the site, securing the principal, and securing the people at the site,” said U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. “And that’s the concern based on the answers that you’ve given today so far.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., further pressed Cheatle about what protocols will change in the wake of the shooting, especially as the election nears and threats of political violence escalate.
“I think we are waiting to determine exactly what those failures or failure was so that we can make sure the Secret Service is stronger after this,” she said.
Cheatle also defended the agents on stage who surrounded Trump after a bullet from Thomas Crooks’s AR-15 grazed his ear, saying they were “perfectly capable of providing protection.”
As far as determining legitimate threats, she pointed to the judgment of law enforcement “and citizens.”
Notably, video of the incident shows eyewitnesses calling out to police as Crooks belly-crawled with a gun into position on a rooftop roughly 400 feet from the rally stage. Cheatle has said the roof’s pitch made it unworkable to place a sniper on top, though on Monday, she clarified that it wasn’t necessary given the “overhead” support provided.
What that support meant exactly, Cheatle wouldn’t say.
Similar responses left other lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee stunned and angry, with many warning Cheatle to resign amid the cascading security failures.
“Would you like to use my five minutes to draft your resignation letter,” U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., asked. She went on to accuse Cheatle of being “full of s—” and “completely dishonest.”
