U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned amid outrage over her agency’s failure to prevent the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after a House committee hearing grilled her for the Secret Service’s actions leading up to Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler Township, Pennsylvania.
Cheatle had earlier rejected calls at that hearing to resign, saying she was the best-qualified person to head the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, vice president, their family members and leading presidential candidates.
The director however angered members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee by refusing to answer many questions about the Secret Service’s actions surrounding Trump’s rally.
On Tuesday, Cheatle in a letter wrote to Secret Service staff, “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director.” She had served in the agency for nearly thirty years.
The criticism of Cheatle centers on the Secret Service’s failure to secure a roof that the shooter, 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks, used as a sniper’s post to shoot at Trump and rally attendees, among other lapses.
The building whose roof Crooks positioned himself on is about 150 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking, and had a clear line of sight and fire to that stage.
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee narrowly avoided being killed by Crooks but one man died in the shooting, while two others were critically injured.
President Joe Biden, in a statement, thanked Cheatle for “her decades of public service,” and said, “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.”
President Joe Biden said he planned to appoint a new director “soon.”
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