Snippets from Kimberly Cheatle's testimony today to make you mad
from the NYT live blog. But the members called for her to resign, both D and R, after her performance
July 22, 2024, 1:37 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago
David A. Fahrenthold and Adam Goldman
Reporting from Washington
A look at the questions the Secret Service director has not answered.
During a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on Monday, several lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, expressed frustration with Secret Service Director Kimberly A. Cheatle over the number of questions that she would not — or could not — answer.
Many times, Ms. Cheatle said she was waiting for reports to arrive to give her the requested information — nine days after the shooting. She said she was not trying to be evasive, but rather was trying to provide information that was accurate.
The following are some of the questions Ms. Cheatle was asked repeatedly that she did not answer:
Why did the Secret Service not station an agent on the warehouse roof that the gunman used as a sniper’s perch?
Ms. Cheatle was pressed repeatedly on this point. Her most detailed answer was in response to a question from Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky. Ms. Cheatle seemed to indicate that the Secret Service had left the rooftop unmanned on purpose, because, she said, the agency preferred “sterile” — presumably meaning empty — rooftops. Instead, she said, the warehouse rooftop was to receive “overwatch” — meaning law enforcement officers were supposed to watch that rooftop from another, higher perch.
“There was a plan in place to provide overwatch, and we are still looking into responsibilities, and who was going to provide overwatch,” Ms. Cheatle said.
How many Secret Service agents were assigned to protect President Trump in Butler, Pa.?
Ms. Cheatle declined to answer that question, or to say how many officers from other federal law enforcement agencies were on hand to supplement the Secret Service. “We feel that there was a sufficient number of agents assigned,” she told Mr. Comer.
Who decided that the warehouse roof should be outside the Secret Service’s security perimeter for Mr. Trump’s rally?“I don’t have a specific person to identify for you,” Ms. Cheatle told Rep. Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts.
Later, Rep. Michael Cloud, Republican of Texas, pressed Ms. Cheatle to say whether a Secret Service official had given final approval to the security plan for Mr. Trump’s rally. When Mr. Cloud pressed Ms. Cheatle to identify who had final sign-off, Ms. Cheatle said, “It’s a conjunction of personnel.”
In follow-up questions, she said she would not specify further during the hearing.
Why did the Secret Service allow former President Trump to take the stage, despite people in the crowd pointing out a gunman on the warehouse roof?
“If the detail had been passed information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage,” Ms. Cheatle said.
She said that the Secret Service agents around the president had been aware of a suspicious person, but not a threat. "We are currently still combing through communications, and when communications were passed,” Ms. Cheatle said. She indicated to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, that the Secret Service had not considered either pausing the rally or removing Mr. Trump from the stage before the shots were fired.
How did Mr. Crooks get his rifle up onto the warehouse roof? Did he leave it there before the rally?
“I do not have that information at this time,” Ms. Cheatle said.
Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, responded with the same frustration as other members of Congress.
“You should have come today ready to give us answers. I call upon you to resign today. Today!” Mr. Biggs told Ms. Cheatle.
What additional security steps did the Secret Service take after the U.S. learned about a potential Iranian plot to kill Mr. Trump?
Ms. Cheatle acknowledged that she had been aware of the Iranian threat to the former president, and that she had reviewed the intelligence behind it. But she did not reveal what security measures the Secret Service had put in place to counter the Iranian threat.
During the hearing, Rep. Michael R. Turner of Ohio, who chairs the House intelligence committee, said that the Secret Service had not included the warnings about Iran in its threat assessment for the Butler rally.
The Iranian threat stemmed from Tehran’s desire to avenge the strike ordered by Mr. Trump in January 2020 that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian security and intelligence commander responsible for the killing of American troops in Iraq. Mr. Turner claimed that Christopher A. Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was shocked that the Iranian information was not part of the Security Service threat assessment.
Ms. Cheatle said she thought the security in place at Butler was sufficient to deal with the Iranian threat.
“Is an Iranian assassin more capable than a 20-year-old?” Mr. Turner asked, seemingly sarcastically.
She did the job she was hired to do. That’s why she isn’t resigning. Now her job is to work on the coverup.
Stone walling! Still believe Crooks was manipulated and mind controlled and was a patsy like Oswald. Smells of Dark Op. CIA has fine tuned this.