Headline Roundup • July 22nd, 2024
Secret Service Director to Congress: ‘We Failed’
Defense And Security,US House,House Oversight Committee,Trump Assassination Attempts,Assassination,Donald Trump,Kimberly Cheatle,Secret Service
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told the House Oversight Committee that the organization tasked with protecting former President Donald Trump “failed” to prevent the assassination attempt against him.
Key Quotes: “The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle said. However, she refused calls to resign, saying she was “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”
For Context: Lawmakers from both major parties have criticized Cheatle, whose hearing came after partisan rivals Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) issued a rare joint statement calling for her to testify.
How the Media Covered It: Coverage across the spectrum often sensationally framed the hearing as bad for Cheatle, saying lawmakers “grilled” and “skewered” her as she “stonewalled” them on details of the assassination attempt. While coverage was featured on news homepages regardless of bias rating, major right-rated outlets generally appeared to feature the story more prominently than left-rated outlets, which were instead more focused on the aftermath of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Kevin Mohatt/Reuters
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle assured lawmakers that she takes full responsibility for the failed assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at the first congressional hearing on the subject — but mostly refused to provide any details on what exactly went wrong, passing the buck instead to the FBI to provide specific information.
The House Oversight Committee brought in Cheatle on Monday to testify about the major security lapses leading up to the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania less than two weeks ago. The hearing comes as...
REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted to Congress on Monday that she and her agency failed when a would-be assassin wounded Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but rebuffed bipartisan calls to resign.
"We failed," Cheatle said in testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee. "The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13th is the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades."
Republican and Democratic lawmakers called on her to resign, calls that she rebuffed, saying at one point, "I think that I am...
Kimberly Cheatle, director of the U.S. Secret Service, acknowledged Monday that the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump represented a fundamental failure on her agency’s part, but refused to explain exactly what went wrong.
Speaking before lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Cheatle described the July 13 shooting of Trump and attendees at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as “the most significant operational failure” at the Secret Service in decades.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders,” Cheatle said in an opening statement before the House oversight committee. “On July...
