Foxx slams ‘rotten culture’ at Secret Service in congressional hearing on assassination attempt

Rep. Virginia Foxx questions Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

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  • Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle urged Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign.
  • Corey Compertore, a former fire chief, died and two others were seriously injured in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last week.

Nine days after the attempted assassination against former President Donald Trump, members of the US House of Representatives examined Secret Service failures on Monday during an Oversight Committee hearing in Washington, DC.

In a display of bipartisan concern, committee members from both sides of the aisle condemned the assassination attempt and urged Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who has served 27 years in the Secret Service and has been in her current position since 2022, to resign. They said President Biden should fire her if she does not choose to step down. 

They asked Cheatle a multitude of questions about the security lapse during the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Law enforcement saw the shooter ahead of time and he was considered a suspicious person, but the event went on as planned.

North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx slammed the Secret Service’s “rotten culture” and questioned why the American people should continue to have confidence in the agency’s leadership. 

“You stated in 2021 that the Secret Service has a zero-fail mission. It’s clear that the event of July 13 shows a cascade of failures,” stated Rep. Foxx, R-05. “When an agency fails spectacularly in its mission, those responsible must be held accountable, and the problems must be fixed so they cannot happen again.”

Cheatle accepted full accountability for the failures but continues to insist on remaining as director.

The Secret Service receives billions of dollars in funding every year, Foxx explained while pointing to statistics that reveal nearly half of the Secret Service workforce left in 2022, which Cheatle disputed. The agency was ranked dead last among law enforcement agencies in the best places to work in the federal government. 

“Given the high-profile failures and rotten culture at the Secret Service during your nearly two-year tenure, why should the American people have any confidence in your ability to lead the Secret Service to perform its zero-fail mission to protect our senior leaders?” asked Foxx.

“The Secret Service has an incredible culture. Our men and women place service over self,” said Cheatle. “I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”

SEE ALSO: NC political leaders react to Trump assassination attempt

The hearing continued into Monday afternoon, with officials demanding answers on the multitude of failures witnessed, most notably the unprotected rooftop.

Video footage of the rally shows bystanders warning law enforcement of the 20-year-old crawling on the rooftop with a firearm before any shots were fired. Gunshots can be heard in video footage of the rally, the crowd screaming, and Trump could be seen grabbing the back of the right side of his head as U.S. Secret Service agents rushed to get him off the stage. 

Since the shooting, Trump has spoken at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and a rally in Michigan. He plans to visit Charlotte this Wednesday for another rally at the Bojangles Coliseum.

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