During a Monday House Oversight Committee hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) went toe-to-toe with Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, suggesting that she should no longer remain in her position after what many consider to be a catastrophic security failure on the part of the secret service.
After last week’s assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pa., a growing chorus of voices have called for Cheatle’s resignation for allowing the near-fatal effort to occur.
According to officials, Trump was shot in the ear after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed a building nearly 140 yards away and fired multiple shots before being killed by Secret Service counter-snipers.
Lawmakers and commentators alike have scratched their heads as to how Crooks was able to gain such easy access to the nearby rooftop from where he fired the shots and why law enforcement failed to respond for over an hour when Crooks was identified as a potential threat.
Crooks shot Trump at 6:12 p.m. local time. At 5:30 p.m., Crooks was spotted by the Secret Service using a rangefinder. At 5:52 p.m., Crooks was seen on the rooftop from which he fired multiple shots. Minutes before the actual shooting, video shared by eyewitnesses shows bystanders yelling and pleading with law enforcement, claiming that Crooks was on the roof and had a gun. Later investigation revealed that Crooks also had two radio-controlled explosive devices in his vehicle.
Information since the shooting indicates that authorities received credible information regarding a possible plot by Iran to assassinate Trump. However, no evidence exists that Crooks is connected to any Iranian plot.
Monday’s hearing did not go well for Cheatle. Many members of Congress attempted to ask questions of the director but expressed annoyance at her perceived obfuscation and refusal to answer.
When Palmer’s time came, he asked Cheatle why Crooks was able to gain access to the nearby roof and why no law enforcement was not present at the building,
“You could have put Barney Fife on the roof and kept somebody from getting up there,” Palmer said. “So why wasn’t that done?”
Cheatle began to respond but was swiftly cut off by Palmer, who seemingly shared the frustrations of other members of Congress when Cheatle offered an obscure answer.
Cheatle replied, “The plan that was developed that day encompassed a number of security mitigations…”
“No, ma’am,” Palmer interjected. “The issue is: the site supervisor, the site agent, and the special agent in charge, who I think signed off on the plan, did not include that in the inner perimeter, and they didn’t have a plan to secure the building.”
Palmer also inquired about the explosive devices found in Crooks’ vehicle. When asked how many devices were found. Cheatle told Palmer to refer to the FBI for that information before Palmer revealed that one of the devices was found near a main gas line. Thus far, no official reports have confirmed the location of that device.
“It wasn’t just the fact that he had a rifle; it was the fact that he had the ability to inflict enormous harm, enormous numbers of casualties had those devices exploded,” Palmer said.
He continued, “The failure to secure that building not only put the former president’s life in danger, it put the lives of individuals in the crowd in danger as well.”
Palmer concluded his line of questioning by directly questioning Cheatle’s ability to stay in her position after such a “spectacular” failure.
“I don’t understand how you can continue to stay in the position you’re in when this was a failure of historic magnitude,” Palmer said. “Forty-three years without anything like this happening, you failed, in this case, in a spectacular way.”
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