The director of the Secret Service has agreed to testify at a House hearing investigating Saturday’s assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump.
“The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees,” the agency spokesman, Anthony Gugliemi, said in the statement, pledging “complete cooperation with Congress.”
“We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure that it never happens again,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Republican-led Oversight Committee led by Mr. Comer’s office sent a subpoena to Ms. Cheatle to testify and she agreed to its demands.
In a letter to Ms. Cheatle attached to the subpoena, the chairman wrote that there have been “no meaningful updates” that have been handed to the Oversight Committee, alleging a “lack of transparency and failure to cooperate.”
The matter, he wrote to the director, “calls into question your ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the attached subpoena compelling your appearance before the Oversight Committee.”
On Wednesday, Ms. Cheatle and other U.S. officials held a briefing with senators on the assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left the 45th president with an injury to his ear, one person dead, and two people injured. The shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper after he opened fire.
Since briefing, which was confirmed by multiple senators, members of the Republican Senate leadership have suggested that Ms. Cheatle step down from her post. So far, she has resisted those calls but has pledged full transparency on the matter.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate’s minority leader, put his name to the list of lawmakers calling for Ms. Cheatle to step down. He said on X that the near-assassination was a “grave attack on American democracy.”
“The nation deserves answers and accountability,” Mr. McConnell wrote. “New leadership at the Secret Service would be an important step in that direction.”
Ms. Cheatle has said the agency understands the importance of a separate review ordered by President Joe Biden and would fully participate in it as well as with congressional committees looking into the shooting.
The fact that a would-be assassin was able to get so close to the former president while he was supposed to be closely guarded has raised questions about what security plans the agency put in place and who is ultimately responsible for allowing a 20-year-old shooter to climb a roof from which he had a clear line of sight to a former president.
Meanwhile, Ms. Cheatle has the support of the administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“I have 100 percent confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service. I have 100 percent confidence in the United States Secret Service,” he told The New York Times on Monday.
Outside of Congress, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general posted two brief notices on its website, saying it would investigate the Secret Service’s process for protecting former President Trump as well as how agency snipers killed the gunman.
Despite the criticism of the Secret Service from Republicans and other members of Congress, the former president has praised agents who responded to the shooting.
Recounting the assassination attempt, former President Trump told the Republican National Convention audience on Thursday that he “immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack. And in one movement proceeded to drop to the ground.”
In the past week, other members of the Trump family, including former First Lady Melania Trump and the former president’s son Eric Trump, similarly praised the Secret Service for its quick response and for risking their lives during the incident.
