A day after a House committee grilled her for shocking failures that led to the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump, U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned in disgrace.
Her departure comes as questions surround the July 13 attempt on the GOP presidential candidate’s life by a 20-year-old gunman who was able to climb up on a roof and get off several rounds before being killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Cheatle’s resignation was first reported by NBC News. Her departure comes amid a whirlwind of events, culminating on Sunday with a post on X announcing that President Joe Biden is withdrawing as the Democrats’ candidate for president. Vice President Kamala Harris is poised to replace Biden on the November ballot.
‘We Failed’
Cheatle struggled — more so, outright refused — to answer pointed questions from House Oversight and Accountability Committee members at Monday’s hearing about how such an extraordinary lapse in protection could occur. In her opening statements, the disgraced director acknowledged her agency had failed.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders. On July 13, we failed,” she told the committee. “As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse. We are fully cooperating with ongoing investigations. We must learn what happened.”
But there was little evidence at Monday’s hearing that the embattled agency and Biden administration officials are “fully cooperating.” Cheatle’s failure to answer or defer answering committee questions, coupled with the agency’s
