US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle is facing questions from a House Committee over the attempted assassination of Donald Trump
Cheatle says the shooting was “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades”
One man was killed at the rally on 13 July and three others, including Trump, were injured
Cheatle says that when an event venue is identified, the campaign spends around five days working with the Secret Service on a security plan, but does not comment on specifics.
She says “to the best of our knowledge” at this point, the agents were not aware that the attacker was carrying a gun despite being identified as suspicious.
Cheatle confirms that the gunman was identified by tracing the identification number on his AR-style rifle.
Trump shooting was most significant failure in decades, US Secret Service boss says
Multiple witnesses reported seeing a man with a rifle on a rooftop minutes before shots were fired
Earlier, Chairman Comer pushed Cheatle on why there was no agent on the roof – calling it a “huge question that every American has”.
He referred to reports saying agents were meant to be on the roof, but didn’t want to because it was a hot day.
She responds by saying there was a plan in place to provide overwatch – they are still “looking into responsibilities and who was meant to provide overwatch”.
She says the Secret Service, in general, prefer to have “sterile rooftops”.
Cheatle, who has been in the job since 2022, joined the Secret Service in 1995 and supervised Joe Biden’s protective detail when he was vice-president
