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\n\t\t\t\t\tSecret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump during a highly contentious congressional hearing with lawmakers of both major political parties demanding she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.Watch a livestream of the hearing in the video player above. WARNING: This live video may contain strong languageIn her first congressional hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt, Cheatle repeatedly angered lawmakers by evading questions, citing ongoing investigations. She called the attempt on Trump\u2019s life the Secret Service\u2019s \u201cmost significant operational failure\u201d in decades. Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person \u201cbetween two and five times\u201d before the shooting.Yet, Cheatle gave no indication she intends to resign even as she said she takes \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for any security lapses at the Pennsylvania rally. Cheatle vowed to \u201cmove heaven and earth\u201d to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.\u201cThe Secret Service\u2019s solemn mission is to protect our nation\u2019s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,\u201d Cheatle said.Lawmakers peppered Cheatle with questions about how the gunman could get so close to the Republican presidential nominee when he was supposed to be carefully guarded and about why Trump was allowed to take the stage after local law enforcement had identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious.Video below: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before House committee on attempted assassination of TrumpCheatle acknowledged that Crooks had been seen by local law enforcement before the shooting with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure distance from a target. She said the Secret Service would have paused the rally if agents had been told there was an \u201cactual threat,” but she said there’s a difference between someone identified as suspicious and someone identified as a true threat.Asked about why there were no agents on the roof where the shooter was located or if the Secret Service used drones to monitor the area, Cheatle said she is still waiting for the investigation to play out, prompting groans and outbursts from members on the committee.\u201cDirector Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. \u201cIf he were killed you would look culpable.\u201dCheatle, who has spent nearly three decades at the agency, remained defiant that she was the \u201cright person\u201d to lead the Secret Service despite the failures. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., noted that the Secret Service director who presided over the agency when there was an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan later stepped down.\u201cThe one thing we have to have in this country are agencies that transcend politics and have the confidence of independents, Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives,\u201d Khanna said, adding that the Secret Service was no longer one of those agencies.Trump was wounded in the ear, one rally attendee was killed and two other attendees were injured after Crooks climbed atop the roof of a nearby building and opened fire with an AR-style rifle shortly after Trump started speaking at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.Video below: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle calls assassination attempt a ‘significant failure’The Secret Service has acknowledged it denied some requests by Trump’s campaign for increased security at his events in the years before the assassination attempt. But Cheatle said that there were \u201cno assets denied” for the rally.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has called what happened a \u201cfailure\u201d while several lawmakers have called on Cheatle to resign or for President Joe Biden to fire her. The Secret Service has said Cheatle does not intend to step down. So far, she retains the support of Biden, a Democrat, and Mayorkas.Before the shooting, local law enforcement had noticed Crooks pacing around the edges of the rally, peering into the lens of a rangefinder toward the rooftops behind the stage where the president later stood, officials have told The Associated Press. An image of Crooks was circulated by officers stationed outside the security perimeter.Witnesses later saw him climbing up the side of a squat manufacturing building that was within 157 yards of the stage. He then set up his rifle and lay on the rooftop, a detonator in his pocket to set off crude explosive devices that were stashed in his car parked nearby.The attack on Trump was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Reagan was shot in 1981. It was the latest in a series of security lapses by the agency that has drawn investigations and public scrutiny over the years.Authorities have been hunting for clues into what motivated Crooks but have not found any ideological bent that could help explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone found photos of Trump, Biden and other senior government officials and found that he had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Conventional as well as Trump\u2019s appearances. He also searched for information about major depressive order.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump during a highly contentious congressional hearing with lawmakers of both major political parties demanding she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.<\/p>\n
Watch a livestream of the hearing in the video player above. WARNING: This live video may contain strong language<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In her first congressional hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt, Cheatle repeatedly angered lawmakers by evading questions, citing ongoing investigations. She called the attempt on Trump\u2019s life the Secret Service\u2019s \u201cmost significant operational failure\u201d in decades. Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person \u201cbetween two and five times\u201d before the shooting.<\/p>\n Yet, Cheatle gave no indication she intends to resign even as she said she takes \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for any security lapses at the Pennsylvania rally. Cheatle vowed to \u201cmove heaven and earth\u201d to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secret Service\u2019s solemn mission is to protect our nation\u2019s leaders. On July 13th, we failed,\u201d Cheatle said.<\/p>\n Lawmakers peppered Cheatle with questions about how the gunman could get so close to the Republican presidential nominee when he was supposed to be carefully guarded and about why Trump was allowed to take the stage after local law enforcement had identified Thomas Matthew Crooks as suspicious.<\/p>\n Video below: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before House committee on attempted assassination of Trump<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Cheatle acknowledged that Crooks had been seen by local law enforcement before the shooting with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure distance from a target. She said the Secret Service would have paused the rally if agents had been told there was an \u201cactual threat,” but she said there’s a difference between someone identified as suspicious and someone identified as a true threat.<\/p>\n Asked about why there were no agents on the roof where the shooter was located or if the Secret Service used drones to monitor the area, Cheatle said she is still waiting for the investigation to play out, prompting groans and outbursts from members on the committee.<\/p>\n \u201cDirector Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. \u201cIf he were killed you would look culpable.\u201d<\/p>\n Cheatle, who has spent nearly three decades at the agency, remained defiant that she was the \u201cright person\u201d to lead the Secret Service despite the failures. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., noted that the Secret Service director who presided over the agency when there was an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan later stepped down.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing we have to have in this country are agencies that transcend politics and have the confidence of independents, Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives,\u201d Khanna said, adding that the Secret Service was no longer one of those agencies.<\/p>\n Trump was wounded in the ear, one rally attendee was killed and two other attendees were injured after Crooks climbed atop the roof of a nearby building and opened fire with an AR-style rifle shortly after Trump started speaking at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n Video below: Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle calls assassination attempt a ‘significant failure’<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The Secret Service has acknowledged it denied some requests by Trump’s campaign for increased security at his events in the years before the assassination attempt. But Cheatle said that there were \u201cno assets denied” for the rally.<\/p>\n Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has called what happened a \u201cfailure\u201d while several lawmakers have called on Cheatle to resign or for President Joe Biden to fire her. The Secret Service has said Cheatle does not intend to step down. So far, she retains the support of Biden, a Democrat, and Mayorkas.<\/p>\n Before the shooting, local law enforcement had noticed Crooks pacing around the edges of the rally, peering into the lens of a rangefinder toward the rooftops behind the stage where the president later stood, officials have told The Associated Press. An image of Crooks was circulated by officers stationed outside the security perimeter.<\/p>\n Witnesses later saw him climbing up the side of a squat manufacturing building that was within 157 yards of the stage. He then set up his rifle and lay on the rooftop, a detonator in his pocket to set off crude explosive devices that were stashed in his car parked nearby.<\/p>\n The attack on Trump was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Reagan was shot in 1981. It was the latest in a series of security lapses by the agency that has drawn investigations and public scrutiny over the years.<\/p>\n Authorities have been hunting for clues into what motivated Crooks but have not found any ideological bent that could help explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone found photos of Trump, Biden and other senior government officials and found that he had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Conventional as well as Trump\u2019s appearances. He also searched for information about major depressive order.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n