The director of the Secret Service has resigned following the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to step down amid questions over lax security arrangements at the former president’s Pennsylvania rally.
“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in the email to staff on Tuesday. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”
The 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 135 metres of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire.
Ms Cheatle on Monday admitted that the agency failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
She said the shooting was “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades”.
She had also been ridiculed for suggesting her agency did not have a presence on the roof because it was ‘sloped’.
Trump, 78, told her the bizarre excuse was ‘crazy’ when they met for the first time after he was struck in the ear by a bullet at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump said: ‘The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!’
Cheatle refused to step down from her post for nine days after the assassination attempt.
While Trump walked around with little more than a bloody ear, Crooks killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, and critically injured two other rally goers sitting close to where the former president was speaking last weekend.
In a resignation letter to colleague, Cheatle wrote: ‘The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission.’
‘The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,’ she continued.
‘However, this incident does not define us. We remain an organization based on integrity and staffed by individuals of exceptional dedication and talent.’
She went on: ‘As I’ve stated, the Secret Service will move forward with our investigatory and protective mission in a steadfast manner.
‘We do not retreat from challenge. However, I do not want my calls for resignation to be a distraction from the great work each and every one of you do towards our vital mission.’
Cheatle continued: ‘In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director. When I assumed the role as your Director, I pledged to do so with honor and integrity.’
She recounted how she had been a special agent for 27 years – securing events for Hillary Clinton, working as a supervisor on Dick Cheney’s detail, and working for Joe Biden when he was Vice President.
And she concluded by reiterating her confidence in the men and women of the Secret Service.
Cheatle had served as Secret Service director since August 2022.
President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her ‘decades of public service’ in a statement after her resignation went public and vowed to appoint someone to replace her ‘soon.’
‘She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service,’ the President wrote.
He went on: ‘As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service.’
‘The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new Director soon.’
Cheatle’s resignation followed and intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.
At the hearing Monday, Cheatle remained defiant that she was the ‘right person’ to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she took responsibility the security failures.
When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, the now former director responded, ‘No, thank you.’
The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to get within 160 yards of the stage where the former president was speaking when he opened fire.
That was despite the FBI learning of a threat on Trump’s life from Iran leading to a bump in security for the former president in the days before the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle acknowledged Monday that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before Trump was shot in the ear.
She also revealed that the roof from which Crooks opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally.
But she failed to answer a myriad of questions about what happened that day, including why there no agents stationed on the roof.
A bloodied Trump was quickly escorted off the stage by Secret Service agents, and an agency sniper killed the shooter.
Trump said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting and has not been seen since without a bandage covering that portion of the right side of his head.
‘The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,’ Cheatle told members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Monday.
‘As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse.’
Details continue to unfold about signs of trouble that day and what role both the Secret Service and local authorities played in security.
The agency routinely relies on local law enforcement to secure the perimeter of events where people it is protecting appear.
Former top Secret Service agents said the gunman should never have been allowed to gain access to the roof.
Two days after the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said he supported Cheatle ‘100 percent.’
But there were calls for accountability across the political spectrum, with congressional committees immediately moving to investigate, issuing a subpoena to testify and the top Republican leaders from both the House and the Senate saying she should step down.
President Joe Biden also has ordered an independent review into security at the rally and the Secret Service’s inspector general opened an investigation. The agency is also reviewing its counter sniper team’s ‘preparedness and operations.’
In an interview with ABC News two days after the shooting, Cheatle said she wasn’t resigning. She called the shooting ‘unacceptable’ and something that no Secret Service agent wants to happen.
She said her agency is responsible for the former president’s protection: ‘The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service.’
Cheatle had left the Secret Service in 2021 for a job as a security executive at PepsiCo before Biden asked her to return in 2022 to head the agency with a workforce of 7,800 special agents, uniformed officers and other staff.
She was the second woman to lead the agency overall.
Kimberly Cheatle’s full resignation letter to Secret Service staff
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