On Monday, a heated congressional committee meeting resulted in Kimberly Cheatle, the head of the Secret Service, being accused of not properly protecting the location of the rally where former President Donald Trump was shot in the ear by a bullet and was on the verge of death. Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) spent a considerable amount of time questioning Cheatle about whether her team shifted their focus from the rally to attend to First Lady Jill Biden.
Jordan, a loyal supporter of President Trump, became part of a group of Republican legislators urging the head of the agency to step down two weeks following the incident where 20-year-old shooter Thomas Crooks took out a 20-year-old soldier. In earlier statements, Cheatle justified her choice not to position a counter-sniper team on the rooftop where Crooks was located, and the agency had to retract an earlier statement that it did not compromise the strength of Trump’s security team.
“The day after President Trump was shot, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, ‘The assertion that a member of the former president’s security team requested additional resources that the U.S. Secret Service or the Department of Homeland Security rebuffed is absolutely false.’ The next day [DHS] Secretary Mayorkas said ‘That is an unequivocally false assertion. We had not received any requests for additional security measures that were rebuffed,” Jordan said during his Q & A period, noting that the Washington Post had uncovered just five days later that, indeed, Trump’s team had requested additional protection.
“Were you guessing or lying when you said you didn’t turn down additional requests from President Trump’s detail,” he asked. “Neither, sir, and I appreciate the question,” Cheatle responded. “What I can tell you is, for the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied,” prompting Jordan to fire back, “Well, maybe they got tired of asking!” He pressed: “How many times did you turn them down ahead of that?”
“A denial of request does not equal a vulnerability,” the director responded as she struggled to defend her agency’s handling of the shooting. “There are a number of ways that risks of threats can be mitigated, with a number of different assets whether that be through personnel, whether that be through technology.”
Visibly agitated, the GOP lawmaker continued to challenge the director on why her spokesman made a “huge change” in the agency’s public statements just five days later. “That’s pretty darn frustrating, not just for me but for the American people!” Jordan exclaimed. “I hear your frustration,” she replied.
WATCH:
On Monday, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) alleged that he had obtained proof from a whistleblower within a government agency indicating that the Secret Service allocated three “post” officers to protect Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, or possibly additional members tasked with guarding a specific area of the perimeter. In comparison, Jill Biden’s trip to Pittsburgh was attended by 12 post officers. The events were only 33 miles apart.