WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday issued a subpoena to the director of the Secret Service, ordering him to appear before the committee at the first congressional hearing on the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, scheduled for Monday.
And before the first hearing, Republicans demanded a director. Kimberly Cheatle Calls for him to resign intensified on Wednesday after Republican leaders in the House and Senate said he should step down, although he has said he has no plans to do so.
Rep. James Comer said the Secret Service had initially assured her she would be there, but Homeland Security officials appeared to intervene and no “meaningful updates or information” had been shared with the committee.
Comer said the “lack of transparency and failure to cooperate” with the committee raised questions about Cheatle’s ability to lead the Secret Service and made the subpoena necessary.
Cheatle said the department understands the importance of the investigation ordered by Democratic President Joe Biden and will cooperate fully with the investigation, as well as with congressional committees looking into the shooting.
In response to the subpoena and Comer’s earlier letter, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Zefrany Butow said the department was “disappointed in the committee’s rush to issue the subpoena,” but welcomed the opportunity for Cheatle to testify. He said the department would be grateful if Cheatle could appear on July 25 or 26, or the following week, rather than on Monday, given Cheatle’s focus on securing the ongoing Republican National Convention.
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The Oversight Committee denied the request to reschedule, with committee spokeswoman Jessica Collins saying, “Director Cheatle has agreed to comply with Chairman Comer’s subpoena and the hearing will be held as scheduled.”
“The American people want and deserve an explanation from the Director about the assassination attempt on President Trump and the egregious failures of the Secret Service,” Collins said.
The subpoena was just one in a series of events that occurred Wednesday following Saturday’s assassination attempt.
The fact that a gunman was able to get so close to a former president who was supposed to be under heavy guard raises questions about what kind of security planning was in place by the police tasked with taking bullets for those they protect, and who is ultimately responsible for allowing a 20-year-old gunman to climb onto a roof and put himself in clear view of the former president.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would set up a task force to investigate security failings during the assassination attempt and said he would call on Cheatle to resign as director of the Secret Service, telling Fox News Channel “I think she’s shown me her priorities,” without elaborating.
He said the task force would be made up of Republican and Democratic lawmakers and that its formation would speed up the investigative process.
“We must take responsibility for this. This is unacceptable,” Johnson said. “Clearly there was a security failing. You don’t have to be a special operations expert to understand that. We’ll get to the bottom of it very soon.”
Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, has also joined a list of lawmakers calling for Mr Cheatle to resign, calling the near-assassination a “grave attack on American democracy” in a post on social media platform X.
“The public deserves answers and accountability,” McConnell tweeted. New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.”
The House Homeland Security Committee also called several state and local law enforcement officials from Pennsylvania to testify at a hearing in the coming days, and the committee’s chairman, Rep. Mark Green, said their accounts of the incident would be crucial to the investigation.
A key question in the aftermath of the shooting is how security responsibility at the rally was divided between the Secret Service and local police, and what failings ultimately allowed the shooter to get onto the roof.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Cheatle said the shooting should never have happened, but also said he has no plans to resign.
Associated Press Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports that the Department of Homeland Security has launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s security at the rally where a gunman tried to kill him.
When asked who bore the greatest responsibility for the shooting, she replied, “I would say the Secret Service is responsible for protecting the former president.”
“The responsibility is mine, because I’m the director of the Secret Service,” she said.
“Director Kimberly Cheatle is proud to serve alongside the dedicated U.S. Secret Service employees and has no plans to resign,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Wednesday.
So far, she has the support of the administration.
“I have 100% confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service. I have 100% confidence in the United States Secret Service,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday.
But in addition to the congressional investigation, Cheatle and the Secret Service are also under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
In a brief notice posted on the inspector general’s website Tuesday, the agency said the purpose of the investigation was to “evaluate the United States Secret Service’s (Secret Service’s) processes regarding security for former President Trump’s campaign event on July 13, 2024.”
The agency also announced that it would begin a “readiness and operations” review of the agency’s countersniper teams on Wednesday.
“Our objective is to determine the extent to which the Secret Service’s countersniper teams prepare for and respond to threats at events attended by designated protected persons,” the inspector general’s office said.
Biden said Sunday he would order an independent investigation into security at the rally. No person has yet been named to lead the investigation.
Since the shooting, Cheatle and security officials have faced intense scrutiny over how the gunman got into position to shoot the former president.
The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, came within 135 metres (157 yards) of the stage where the former Republican president was speaking and opened fire. Threat on President Trump’s life from Iran leads to extra security days before Saturday’s rally for the former president.
A bloody Trump was quickly escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents and a sniper. Killed the gunmanTrump said the gunfire left him with a hole above his right ear. One rally attendee was killed and two others seriously injured.
Cheatle She said her office is working to understand how Saturday’s shooting happened and to prevent it from happening again.
Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared on a conference call with senators on Wednesday afternoon, with Republicans reacting critically.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) tweeted that it was a “100% exculpatory report” by X. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called for administration officials to hold daily press conferences to update the public, while Sen. Mike Rounds (R-La.) said, “They’re so scattered and haven’t gotten their facts together yet.”
The Secret Service has approximately 7,800 employees and is responsible for protecting the president, vice president, their families, former presidents, their spouses, their minor children under the age of 16, and several other senior officials, including the Secretary of Homeland Security.
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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.
