The Patriot Post® · Secret Service Director Resigns After Stonewalling Congress
It’s a rarity these days in the halls of Congress, but Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was able to achieve it as she testified yesterday before the House Oversight Committee. Both Republicans and Democrats on the committee laid into Cheatle as she stonewalled her way through a barrage of questions regarding the Secret Service’s colossal failure in preventing the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle’s testimony began badly, and it got worse when committee members discovered that she (or, presumably, a member of her staff) had leaked her prepared opening statement to the media hours earlier. While she denied any knowledge of the leak, South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace called it cow excrement. “Nine days in, you have no answers,” Mace blasted Cheatle.
But there sat Cheatle, stone-faced, repeatedly responding to questions regarding everything from Secret Service procedures to why the infamous “sloped roof” was left unguarded. She repeated that it was currently under investigation, therefore she had no answers yet.
When asked when she estimated the investigation would be completed, Cheatle said approximately 60 days. To her credit, New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Cheatle that this time frame was “not acceptable.”
Repeatedly, Republicans and Democrats alike asked for Cheatle’s resignation. Cheatle insisted that she was taking full responsibility and conducting a thorough investigation. Yet, when lawmakers pressed for specific answers, she had none.
It was clear that Cheatle’s intention was to go before Congress and avoid any answers that could be used against her in the future should she change her account. In doing so, Cheatle served to epitomize what most frustrates Americans about Washington: They love making rules for the rest of us, but when it comes to accountability, it’s always someone else’s fault.
What transpired at the Oversight Committee hearing was a game of irresponsible dodgeball. While Cheatle admitted that the Secret Service had failed in its “no-fail mission,” she refused to take real responsibility for that failure and instead committed herself to finding answers.
Predictably, there was some pushing of partisan agendas, with Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) calling for a banning of the AR-15 rifle. However, for the most part, the parties were united in their consternation over Cheatle’s refusal to answer questions or provide details as to how a 20-year-old man was able to position himself on an unguarded roof within 150 yards of Trump and get several shots off before being put down by a sniper team.
Cheatle’s continued “leadership” at the Secret Service created the impression of a cover-up rather than a commitment to uncover the truth and the causes of this catastrophic failure. Even liberal comedian Bill Maher knows this. Over the weekend, he asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg why Cheatle hadn’t been fired yet.
Well, the growing pressure from both sides of the political aisle over the damage her continued leadership was doing to the agency and the country finally got through. This morning, Cheatle announced her resignation. This decision took entirely too long, and even in her resignation letter, she still attempts to avoid responsibility by stating that the only reason she is resigning is that “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.” Now that Cheatle is finally out, a quick and fully transparent investigation needs to proceed.