The pressure was ultimately too great. The director of the Secret Service, under fire since the assassination attempt against Donald Trump on July 13, has resigned, several American media outlets reported on Tuesday, July 23.
Kimberly Cheatle, the head of this elite service responsible for protecting high-ranking American figures, had acknowledged a failure and was the subject of numerous calls to resign, which she had so far rejected. Contacted by AFP, the Secret Service had not yet reacted on Tuesday afternoon.
House Republican leader Mike Johnson immediately welcomed her resignation. “This is long overdue, she should have done this at least a week ago. I am pleased that she has heard the calls from Republicans and Democrats,” he told reporters, saying that “we must now pick up the pieces, rebuild the trust of the American people in the Secret Service.”
In a statement, Democratic President Joe Biden expressed his gratitude to Kimberly Cheatle “for her decades of service.” “Throughout her career with the Secret Service, she selflessly dedicated herself and risked her life to protect our nation,” he added. The president did, however, mention the “independent” investigation that is to review the events of July 13 and determine how a shooter came so close to Donald Trump. “I look forward to evaluating its findings,” Biden said, adding that he plans to appoint a new director “soon.” “We all know that what happened that day must never happen again.”
“We have failed”
Auditioned Monday, July 22, in Congress, Kimberly Cheatle had no choice but to recognize that her services had “failed” in their mission to protect Donald Trump. “The solemn mission of the Secret Service is to protect the leaders of our nation […]”On July 13, we failed,” she told the House Oversight Committee. “As director, I take full responsibility for any security failures,” she added, calling the events targeting the former US president and current Republican presidential candidate in November “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
Since July 13, the service responsible for protecting high-ranking American figures has faced significant criticism over possible failings and human failings. And calls for the resignation of Kimberly Cheatle, appointed in 2022 by President Joe Biden, had come from both sides of the political spectrum.
So far, she has dismissed the idea, saying again Monday that she believes she is “the best person to lead the Secret Service right now.” She also declined to answer many specific questions from lawmakers about the attack, saying multiple investigations were ongoing. “I can only speak in general terms,” she said, to the frustration of both Republican and Democratic members of the committee.
“Incompetence”
The investigations are intended to determine how a shooter was able to end up on the roof of a building with a semi-automatic rifle, less than 150 meters from the stage where Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the northeast of the country.
Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her department had been alerted “two to five times” to the presence at the rally of a “suspicious individual,” who was not immediately considered a “threat.” Teams were sent to identify and speak to him but were unable to locate him before he opened fire, she also said during her hearing. The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was shot dead by the Secret Service 26 seconds after the first of eight shots he fired.
US media reported over the weekend that the agency – which handles security for the president, vice president, former presidents and their families, as well as major presidential candidates and foreign heads of state visiting the United States – had rejected requests to beef up Trump’s security in the past.
As he began the hearing on Monday, the chairman of the committee, Republican James Comer, assured that this “tragedy was avoidable,” saying he was convinced that Kimberly Cheatle “had to resign.” The Secret Service, despite its “thousands of employees” and its “large budget,” has become synonymous with “incompetence,” he added. So he will have finally won his case.