Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump. During a highly contentious congressional hearing, lawmakers from both major political parties demanded that Ms. Cheatle resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire during the former president’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
During the House Oversight Committee hearing, Ms. Cheatle acknowledged that the agency was told about a suspicious person “somewhere between two and five times” before the shooting.
Ms. Cheatle gave no indication Monday that she intends to resign, although she said she takes “full responsibility” for any security lapses at the Pennsylvania rally. Ms. Cheatle vowed to “move heaven and earth” to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.
Lawmakers peppered Ms. Cheatle with questions about how the gunman could get so close to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and why former President Trump was allowed to take the stage after local law enforcement had identified a suspicious person in the area.