U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle called her agency’s failure to protect former President Donald Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades,” but made no indication she would resign.
“The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle said, in the first congressional hearing on the assassination attempt since it occurred.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” she added.
She said as director of the Secret Service, she took “full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency.”
However, she stopped short of announcing any measures for accountability, simply saying the agency is “fully cooperating with ongoing investigations.”
“We must learn what happened and I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13 does not happen again,” she said.
She also indicated she would not resign, despite numerous calls over the last week for her to do so.
In fact, she told lawmakers on Monday at the hearing, “I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) as well as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) both called for Cheatle to resign during the hearing.
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