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Jimmy Williams
House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with other prominent Republicans, has called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle after a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I’m going to call for resignation,” Johnson, R-La., stated during an appearance on Fox News at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “Look, I think it’s inexcusable. … Her explanation to the media that there was a slant on the roof, so there was a safety concern — it doesn’t wash. And I think she’s shown what her priorities are.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also demanded Cheatle’s resignation on Tuesday, echoing Johnson’s sentiment.
Johnson’s call for Cheatle to step down came just hours before top law enforcement officials briefed House and Senate lawmakers about the shooting, where the gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired at Trump, injuring him in the ear, killing one spectator, and seriously wounding two others.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, and Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe briefed the lawmakers, with Cheatle participating in the Senate briefing. According to three sources familiar with the briefing, officials revealed that Crooks had visited the rally site days prior to scope it out, and about an hour had passed between identifying him as a suspicious person and when he opened fire.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., joined the calls for Cheatle’s resignation after the briefing. “To me, it was a cover-your-ass briefing by the Secret Service. The director of the Secret Service needs to go,” Barrasso told NBC News. “That shooter was identified as a suspect, a suspicious character, a full one hour before the shooting occurred. Had a range finder, a backpack, and then they lost sight of him and never really followed up on that. This was an hour before.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has issued a subpoena for Cheatle to testify at a public hearing on Monday focused on the security breach. Johnson announced plans to create a special House task force to investigate the shooting and security failures.
“The reason we’re going to do it that way is because that is a more precision strike. It goes quicker, there’s not a lot of the procedural hurdles, and it will have subpoena authority for that task force as well,” Johnson explained. “It will be compiled of Republicans and Democrats to get down the bottom of this quickly so the American people can get the answers that they deserve.”
Lawmakers are questioning why the roof of a building within 150 yards of Trump was not secured and why Secret Service snipers did not engage the shooter sooner. They also want to know why more precautions weren’t taken once the Secret Service identified a suspicious person outside the rally.
In an interview with ABC News, Cheatle stated, “The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service.” She explained that the Secret Service was responsible for securing the inner perimeter of the rally, while local law enforcement was responsible for the outer area, including the building accessed by Crooks. However, Cheatle’s public remarks have contained inconsistencies regarding the involvement of local police and SWAT teams.
Johnson emphasized the need for accountability. “Within hours of Saturday’s shooting, I was on the phone with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who did not have satisfactory answers at that time,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there were security lapses. You don’t have to be a special ops expert to understand that, and we’re gonna get down to the bottom of it quickly.”
The call for Cheatle’s resignation and the subsequent investigations highlight the significant concerns surrounding the Secret Service’s handling of the incident and the broader implications for security at high-profile political events.
