"You're Full Of Sh*t": Secret Service Director Grilled, Says Agency Has 'No Radio Communications' From Assassination Attempt
Update (1558ET): Today's hearing in front of the House was a complete disaster for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle - as both Republicans and Democrats grilled her over agency failures leading up to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump July 13th.
Numerous Republican and at least one Democrat lawmaker demanded that Cheatle resign from her position, saying that her agency fell short of its "zero-fail mission."
Kimberly Cheatle testifies that the roof 150 yards from the podium was “outside of the perimeter": pic.twitter.com/cpJQ5Oufhz
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 22, 2024
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle: "The people that are in charge of protecting the President on that day would never bring the former President out if there was a threat that had been identified."
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) July 22, 2024
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi: "Well, they did." pic.twitter.com/TX8aJGoalr
In one heated exchange, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) told Cheatle that she was 'full of shit today,' after Cheatle continued to give vague, or no, answers to pointed questions.
MACE: Okay. Is the Secret Service fully cooperating with our committee? Yes. Okay. You say you’re fully cooperating with this committee? On July 15th, this committee sent you a list of demands of information that we wanted. Has the Secret Service provided this committee a complete list of all law enforcement personnel that were there that day? Have you done that? Have you provided a list to the oversight Committee? Yes or no? I’ll have to get back to you on that. That is a no. Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15th? Yes or no?
CHEATLE: I would have to get back to you.
MACE: That is a no. You’re full of shit today. You’re just being completely dishonest.
.@NancyMace did NOT come to play today!
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) July 22, 2024
“You’re full of SHIT today!”
THIS IS HOW YOU HANDLE THESE PEOPLE! pic.twitter.com/b2K9SlGNAt
Perhaps most stunning was an admission that the Secret Service has no recordings of radio communications from the 13th.
At the end of January 2021, USSS deleted texts of 2 dozen agents/officials related to Jan 6. They’ve never been recovered. L
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) July 22, 2024
She also admitted to using encrypted apps on her personal phone to conduct official business.
Bloody Hell
— Connor Tomlinson (@Con_Tomlinson) July 22, 2024
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle just said that she uses encrypted apps on her personal cell phone to speak to colleagues in the federal government and overseas
Rep. Eric Burlinson is stunned, and states this might be a federal crime
Cheatle hurriedly then… pic.twitter.com/qZHT3z2So5
Cheatle also failed to bring a timeline of events to the hearing.
NEW: Room starts cracking up after USSS director Kim Cheatle fumbles her words & claims she has a "timeline that does not have specifics" of the day Trump was nearly assas*inated.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 22, 2024
MTG: "How did [Crooks] fly a drone over the rally area?"
Cheatle: "I would have to check the… pic.twitter.com/14ECYzKa2Z
When asked if the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was acting alone - Cheatle deferred to the FBI.
BIGGS: "Was Mr. Crooks acting alone?
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 22, 2024
CHEATLE: "I would have to refer you to the FBI's investigation."
BIGGS: "Was he just a lone gunman?"
CHEATLE: "I would have to refer you to the FBI's investigation for motive." pic.twitter.com/BBzwaKnj5C
In a hilarious exchange with California Democrat Ro Khana, Cheatle didn't realize that the Secret Service director during the Reagan assassination attempt quit (while Cheatle refuses to step down).
Omg Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle just got embarrassed by California Dem Ro Khanna for not knowing the history of the agency she runs
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) July 22, 2024
"You know what Stuart Knight did after [Regan's assassination attempt]?"
"He remained on duty."
"He resigned. He resigned." pic.twitter.com/8RZ9iTYPeK
* * *
Watch Live (due to start at 10amET):
In a move seemingly timed to ease the immediate pressure on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday night announced the formation of an independent review panel charged with examining the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, which appeared to illuminate an astonishing degree of Secret Service incompetence.
The unusual Sunday night announcement came about 12 hours before Cheatle's 10 am Monday appearance before the House Oversight Committee, which Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has touted as "must-watch TV," telling CNN, "She's got a lot to answer for. And those concerns are bipartisan." Underscoring that notion, Oversight Committee member and Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle has already demanded that Cheatle resign, via a statement released Saturday:
"The evidence coming to light has shown unacceptable operational failures. I have no confidence in the leadership of the United States Secret Service if Director Cheatle chooses to remain in her position.
![](https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/kimberly-cheatle-us-secret-service.jpeg?itok=HGgrwPUX)
The creation of the panel will give Cheatle a flimsy shield she can use to try deflecting Monday's pointed questions about the Secret Service's damning actions and inactions surrounding the July 13 shooting at Trump's rally that wounded Trump and two spectators and killed a third.
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened on July 13," said Mayorkas. "This independent review will examine what happened and provide actionable recommendations to ensure they carry out their no-fail mission most effectively and to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
In his Sunday night statement, Mayorkas also made the deeply dubious assertion that the Secret Service is "the greatest protective service in the world." The victims and surviving family members of the shooting at Trump's rally would likely quarrel with that poorly-timed chest-thumping. It's also wildly inappropriate given the panel he just appointed should be at least theoretically free to reach an entirely different conclusion.
"Our goal is a 30% female Secret Service by 2030" - Director Kimberly Cheatle
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 14, 2024
What could possibly go wrong? pic.twitter.com/ItlNZDMtZg
That panel has been given 45 days to perform its review. While new experts may be added shortly, it initially has four members:
Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
Fran Townsend, a homeland security advisor to President George W. Bush
Mark Filip, who was deputy attorney general to George W. Bush
David Mitchell, former Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security for the State of Delaware
Damning information about the Secret Service's handling of Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania continues to emerge. On Saturday, the agency was caught in a lie: Having repeatedly denied that Trump's campaign was denied additional security resources it had requested, the agency was exposed as having done just that, via a report from the Washington Post.
On Friday, the world learned that would-be assassin Thomas Crooks was able to fly a drone over the event site just a few hours before he opened fire. The Secret Service typically bans drone flights at secured sites; but it's unclear if such a prohibition was at least nominally imposed at the rally.
Crooks was identified as a suspicious individual more than an hour before he opened fire from a rooftop only about 450 feet from Trump's podium. At the time, he'd already been observed in possession of a range finder and carrying a duffel bag. Later, he was spotted on a rooftop 20 minutes before all hell broke loose. As it did, female agents assigned to the DEI-focused protective detail appeared to falter under fire -- even struggling with holstering a weapon.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Cheatle's credibility took a sharp downturn when, asked why no Secret Service agent was posted atop ideal sniper roost used by the shooter, she told ABC:
"That building in particular has a sloped roof at its highest point. And so, you know, there’s a safety factor that would be considered there that we wouldn’t want to put somebody up on a sloped roof."
SS sloped roof division. 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dHgFCVrlFz
— 🇺🇸𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓭🇺🇸𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷🇺🇸 (@Texas_jeep__guy) July 20, 2024
That flatly ridiculous rationale fueled a brewing public perception that an emphasis on stocking the Secret Service with diversity hires -- including Cheatle -- had greatly weakened the agency. "The initial excuses that [Cheatle] has given for the lapses that happened last Saturday are just unbelievable, so we're going to get down to the bottom of it," said Speaker Johnson.
You can watch Cheatle's 10am Monday appearance before the House Oversight Committee here. She'll try dodging the fusillade of rhetorical bullets fired her way from both sides of the aisle, but could emerge more bloodied than Trump.