Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says 'we failed' [View all]
Source: AP
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, FARNOUSH AMIRI and CLAUDIA LAUER
Updated 12:14 PM CDT, July 22, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump during a highly contentious congressional hearing with lawmakers of both major political parties demanding she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.
In her first congressional hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt, Cheatle repeatedly angered lawmakers by evading questions, citing ongoing investigations. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades. Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person “between two and five times” before the shooting.
Yet, Cheatle gave no indication she intends to resign even as she said she takes “full responsibility” for any security lapses at the Pennsylvania rally. Cheatle vowed to “move heaven and earth” to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” Cheatle said.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/secret-service-trump-rally-shooting-kimberly-cheatle-fabaf9a0e57d5545e5b60f0b2215778f
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