US Secret Service Director QUITS after failings over Trump shooting
US Secret Service Director QUITS after failings over Trump shooting
GETTY/REUTERS
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned after receiving criticism for her agency's handling of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump on July 13.
Cheatle quit after being blasted by members of the House Committee who were grilling the Secret Service over its actions in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The 53-year-old initially refused to resign, claiming she was the best-qualified person for the role.
Trump narrowly avoided death, with one attendee being killed and two more being seriously injured, after 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire shortly after the 45th President started addressing supporters.
Kimberly Cheatle has resigned from her role
GETTY/REUTERSThe Secret Service was criticised for failing to extend its security perimeter to include the complex that Crooks used to scope out the former President.
Local law enforcement officials were instead told to secure the area.
Secret Service agents also allowed Trump to take the stage and begin speaking after receiving a report from local police that a suspicious person had been seen at the event.
It was later revealed that Crooks, who was later killed by a Secret Service sniper, was the person reportedly as acting suspiciously.
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DONALD TRUMPCheatle came under fire during her appearance at the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Monday.
She refused to answer questions from frustrated lawmakers about the security plan for the rally and how law enforcement responded to the suspicious behavior of the gunman.
Cheatle, who took on her role at the Security Service in 2022, took responsibility for the incident and accepted it was the largest failure by the agency since then-President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981.
Separate probes have been established to assess the Secret Service's performance, including an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene added: "The entire country is demanding you resign"
REUTERSCheatle's decision to resign comes after a number of Representatives called for her to quit.
In a letter penned to Cheatle, Kentucky Republican James Comer and Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin said: "In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing.
"We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people."
Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene added: "The entire country is demanding you resign."
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