By The New Diplomat Political Desk
Pressure has begun to mount on United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle as US Lawmakers have unanimously demanded her resignation after a shooting incident targeted at former president Donald Trump.
On Monday the US House Oversight Committee had its sitting on the campaign rally on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania, that led to an attempt on Trump’s life.
Cheatle who appeared before the committee was grilled by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as they demanded answers about her agency’s security preparations ahead of the rally.
Several lawmakers lampooned Cheatle for some of her answers as well as for admitting that the agency didn’t have adequate information before the incident.
While Cheatle took responsibility during the hearing for the security lapses and acknowledged that the shooting incident marked “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades”, she pushed back on calls to resign and said she remained “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time”.
After the hearing, the leading Republican and Democrat from the committee – James Comer and Jamie Raskin – sent a letter to Ms Cheatle that concretely laid out their belief that she should vacate her office.
The letter reads in part: “In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing.
“We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people.”
The New Diplomat reports Trump has been reported to be a target of an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.
The shooting left one person dead and three others wounded – including the former president.
Following the incident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), revealed that an individual identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks was allegedly responsible for the shooting that occurred in Pennsylvania.
The Secret Service came under public scrutiny after several eyewitnesses narrated how they reported a man seen with a rifle on the rooftop of a building close to the campaign rally venue to the police but were slow to respond after being alerted.
