Mr.Tee
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has stepped down following intense criticism over the agency’s failure to prevent an attack on former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally, the White House announced on Tuesday. The incident, which occurred on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, saw a gunman shoot at Trump from a rooftop, injuring the former president and killing a rally attendee. The Secret Service, responsible for the protection of U.S. presidents, is now under multiple investigations.
In a statement, President Joe Biden emphasized the need for a thorough independent review to understand the security lapse and ensure such an incident never happens again. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas named Ronald Rowe, the agency’s Deputy Director with 24 years of service, as the acting director.
The Secret Service is facing scrutiny from several congressional committees and the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog. Biden, who has concluded his reelection campaign, has also demanded an independent investigation.
Cheatle received bipartisan criticism during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, where she was questioned about the rally’s security measures and the response to the gunman’s behavior. Lawmakers from both parties had urged her resignation, with NBC News first reporting her departure.
The attack, carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, ended with Crooks being killed by a Secret Service sniper. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, called Cheatle’s resignation a step towards accountability but stressed the need for a comprehensive review of the security failures.
House leaders announced plans to form a bipartisan task force to investigate the shooting, focusing on the failure to secure the rooftop from which the gunman fired. Former agents and lawmakers have criticized the decision to exclude the rooftop from the security perimeter.
Cheatle, who took responsibility for the incident and labeled it the worst Secret Service failure since the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan, had been leading the agency since 2022 after a career at PepsiCo and 27 years in the Secret Service. Her tenure followed several scandals that tarnished the agency’s reputation, including the 2012 Colombia prostitution scandal and allegations of deleted text messages related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
