Secret Service director testifies about Trump assassination attempt
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is facing questioning Monday from House Oversight Committee lawmakers about the assassination attempt against former President Trump at a rally on July 13 in Pennsylvania.
Coverage for this event has ended.
Trump reveals conversation with Secret Service director as bi-partisan calls grow for her to resign
Former President Trump spoke about his conversation with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday night, saying she was nice, though somebody should have made sure nobody was on the roof a gunman accessed before opening fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“She came to see me actually. And, well, I mean, it went very nicely. She was very nice, I thought. But, you know, somebody should have made sure there was nobody on that roof,” Trump said. “That roof was a dead aim right onto the stage. And they said they didn't have the manpower for it, which is crazy. They said 130 yards is like sinking a one-foot putt. It's considered really close.
“It sounds like a lot, but it's really, from that standpoint, it's a very, you know, it's very close. And I was surprised by that actually. They said it's really, it's a – a bad shot would usually hit the target. And so I mean, it's got to be, somebody's got to be there. And it's essentially a flat roof,” Trump added. “ I mean, I noticed that she said, well, this is a slope roof where you think of like a barn where you have, this thing had just a little – a little upswing in it, a few degrees. This was a not – it essentially was a flat roof.
So, I don't know. Somebody gave her false information when she talked about the slope of the roof.
“I thought she was very nice. But, you know, you have to answer why couldn't I have stayed off the stage for five minutes while they do their work,” he continued. “Why couldn't, you know, how does a situation happen where a roof that's plainly in sight from the location where I was speaking, why would somebody not have seen that?”
Top five moments of Secret Service director's hours-long grilling after Trump assassination attempt
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testified for hours on Capitol Hill Monday, facing a grilling from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the agency’s lapse in security that enabled the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., after he subpoenaed her to appear.
Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee Monday, just over a week after a would-be assassin Thomas Crooks attempted to take the life of Trump at his rally in Butler, Pa. on July 13.
Trump, during his rally, ever-so-slightly turned his head—narrowly missing the bullet shot by 20-year-old suspect Crooks’ AR-15-style rifle by just a quarter of an inch. The bullet hit him, instead, in his upper right ear.
Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee
United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee during a hearing at the Rayburn House Office Building on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. Cheatle has vowed cooperation with all investigations into the agency following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The bullet killed firefighter, father and husband Corey Comperatore as he protected his family from the shots, and severely injured two others.
Cheatle admitted under oath that the Secret Service "on July 13th, we failed."
Read here for the top five moments:
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Rep. Crockett asks if Secret Service didn't consider 'White male' shooter a threat because of racial
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, appeared to imply that racial bias may have been why the Secret Service was slow to deem Thomas Crooks a threat on the day he shot at Trump.
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle testified on Monday before the House Oversight Committee, less than 10 days after would-be assassin Thomas Crooks nearly killed former President Trump. Cheatle was grilled by Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike. While little is known about Crooks’ motivations, his identity as a White male was brought center stage when it was Crockett's turn to speak.
"I wanna talk about training and I want to talk about the fact that there’s been a little bit of dancing around as it relates to this being a suspicious person and this being a situation that was perceived to be a threat, and it seems as if there’s a different analysis that takes place," Crockett argued. "One of my questions has to do with if you have any bias training that your officers undergo."
Crockett went on to cite her background as a "civil rights lawyer," and said, "I have learned so many times, in having to deal with law enforcement, that there usually is not a perception of a threat when it is a young White male, even if they are carrying a long gun. Yet a lot of times, at least in this country, when it comes to law enforcement, there is a perceived threat just by somebody having a little bit more melanin in their skin."She then said that while discussions about law enforcement training standards are often sparked by officer-involved shootings, this incident is relevant as well.
Read more about Crockett’s implications of “racial bias.”
Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
Trump said Biden told him after getting shot he was lucky he turned to the right
Former President Trump said when he spoke to President Biden after getting shot, the president said Trump was lucky he turned to the right.
Trump was a guest on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday night, when the host asked the former president about his call with Biden after getting shot.
“It was good. It was a nice conversation,” Trump said. “He said you’re lucky you turned to the right. So…obviously somebody briefed him. But, he did say that to me. He said, ‘you’re lucky you turned to the right.’ I said, ‘I think so.’”
Watters then told Trump the country would be lucky if it turned to the right.
“Well, I guess maybe,” Trump said. “Certainly to a certain extent it would. Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Trump recounts getting shot in ear, says did not want to go on stretcher
Former President Trump recounted his brush with death while speaking to Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday, saying he refused to be put on a stretcher after being shot in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Trump was a guest on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday, when the host asked him how his ear was doing.
“Good. Getting much better. We're getting down to the small bandages, but it was a nasty one and it was nasty, period. That was exactly one week ago from today. exactly,” Trump said.
Joining Trump was his vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, who Watters asked if he had seen the wound.
“I have not. No, I won’t. Though I do find it hysterical, Jesse, that you have these people who are like, ‘why is the president wearing an ear bandage,’” Vance said. “He got shot in the ear. And these are the same people who were wearing masks, right, five years after COVID. So, it’s pretty ridiculous.”
Trump also said he refused to be taken out on a stretcher.
“Well, they wanted to put me on a stretcher. They had a stretcher and they wanted to put me on a stretcher, and I said I’m not going on a stretcher, because I just felt it was the ear,” Trump said. “There was a lot of blood. But I understood. They thought I was hit elsewhere…I said, ‘I'm telling you I'm OK, I'm fine. I'm going to get up. I want to get up. I'm not going to be taken out on a stretcher.’”
Florida lawmaker said after hearing she is more convinced Trump shooter was not working alone
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who accused Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle of perjuring herself and of stonewalling members of the House Committee on Oversight on Monday, said she is more convinced now that the would-be Trump assassin was not working alone.
Luna and other members of the committee were given the opportunity to ask questions of Cheatle regarding the failed security detail that nearly led to Trump’s death during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
During questioning, Luna told the director she felt she perjured herself with some of the answers she gave, calling on committee Chairman James Comer to have a full review done of the transcripts and to bring perjury charges against Cheatle should they find she did not tell the truth under oath.
Many lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties berated Cheatle for not answering many questions, and instead stonewalling them.
Luna turned to social media after the hearing to express her opinions about the investigation into the shooting.
“After leaving the oversight briefing this morning, I’m more convinced than ever that Crooks wasn’t working alone,” the lawmaker said.
Luna’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for more details about what she was alluding to through her post.
Top Republican, 70, calls Cheatle’s ‘sloped roof’ defense ‘final straw’
A top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee dismissed suggestions from U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that the "sloped roof" of attempted assassin Thomas Crooks’ sniper nest precluded it from being properly secured.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., was part of a bipartisan delegation of committee members who toured the Butler Farm Show Grounds on Monday, where members indeed scaled the same glass factory building Thomas Crooks did before he took aim at former President Trump last week.
Gimenez said he has been frustrated with the Homeland Security department for some time, including regarding the porous border and now relating to its subordinate agency, the Secret Service’s handling of Trump’s rally.
"This entire administration is a complete disaster," he said.
"And so what really bothers me, and the reason I got up on the roof -- I'm 70 -- was for the director to say, ‘well, the steepness of the roof won't allow Secret Service agents to be up there’ -- That was the final straw for me."
Read more about Gimenez’s views on the “sloped roof.”
Fox News’ Charles Creitz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Florida Rep. says attempted assassination of Trump was domestic terrorism
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., is calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign from her post, saying the attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania was domestic terrorism and an attack on the U.S.
The lawmaker joined Neil Cavuto on “Your World” Monday, where he gave his thoughts about the House Committee on Oversight’s hearing into the attempted assassination of Trump.
Moskowitz and a group of bipartisan lawmakers called on Cheatle to step down over a failed security detail and for not answering questions about the failed security detail.
“The former president was almost assassinated and she's saying, ‘well, I'm not going to resign.’ Well, okay. What I wanted to see is where is that line for her? Had this been successful, would she have resigned? And she still said no. And so what that showed me clearly is that she's not willing to have accountability,” Moskowitz told Cavuto.
The lawmaker said he asked Cheatle to commit to firing the people responsible when the investigation is complete, adding she would not commit to doing that.
“At that point, it became clear to me that the person who needs to be fired is her,” Moskowitz said.
He continued, saying Cheatle is not going to be the director of the Secret Service soon, though he does not know for sure if she will be out of her post within days, weeks or months.
“To see this level of bipartisan outrage, of her performance and lack of information that she's willing to provide the committee. It's also why I support the calls for a commission to be set up. We have to make sure that this doesn't happen again,” he said.
Pa. officers not allowed in Secret Service command center at Trump rally, lawmakers say on site
Local Pennsylvania police officers told members of Congress that they were not allowed into a Secret Service command center at former President Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, according to Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green.
The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, along with other bipartisan members of the committee, on Monday morning toured the Butler Farm Show grounds area where 20-year-old Thomas Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump over a week ago.
"Normally, according to the local sheriff, they have done these events in the past with Secret Service and always had one of their people in that Secret Service control room. Apparently, that was not allowed this time for some reason," Green told Fox News Digital after his tour of the crime scene Monday, which has been closed to the public since July 13.
Green, an Army veteran, said that is one example of miscommunication between local and federal law enforcement, adding that lawmakers are also working to get more information on radios that law enforcement used to communicate on the day of the rally.
Read more about what members of Congress learned in Butler, Pennsylvania.
This is an excerpt from a story by Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Sara Rumpf-Whitten.
S.C. rep. scolds Cheatle for lack of information; suggests Biden fire her when he wakes up from nap
Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., joined a growing list of bipartisan lawmakers who are calling on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign from her post after a failed security detail at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania nearly led to the assassination of former President Trump.
During a House Committee on Oversight hearing on Monday, Cheatle was berated by lawmakers for her handling of the security at the rally, but also for failing to answer questions about the investigation into the matter.
Fry scolded the director when he was given the chance, calling her out for what she could not, or refused to answer.
“You have not been able to answer the number of agents, whether or not requests were denied on additional security, whether or not law enforcements were able to engage before the shooting with the assassin, how he got onto the roof, how the rifle got on the roof…,” Fry told Cheatle. “You can’t tell us how many shots he fired, [or] whether the casings were recovered. You can’t tell us anything about his cell phone.”
He continued, saying Cheatle could not answer whether the rally was supposed to be postponed, whether the shooter’s car had a bomb, or what the shooter’s motive was.
“The American people are incredibly distrustful because it has taken nine days to even get a scintilla of evidence out of you,” Fry told Cheatle. “That is why the American people are frustrated. And I echo the bipartisan calls on this committee and all across this country that you should resign, or maybe when the president wakes up from his nap, he can fire you.”
New York Dem calls on Secret Service director to resign for lack of accountability, transparency
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign from her post on Monday, saying her “lack of accountability and transparency” since the attempted assassination of former President Trump has “only added insult to injury.”
Torres released a statement following the House Committee on Oversight hearing in which Cheatle testified about the failed security detail that nearly led to the assassination of Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
“The security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of the former President are so egregious that the only acceptable outcome is the resignation or removal of Director Cheatle, whose lack of accountability and transparency since the July 13th shooting has only added insult to injury,” Torres said. “An example must be made of those who fail as catastrophically as Director Cheatle has done.”
Texas Rep. Fallon recreates Butler, Pa. shooting scene with AR-15 to get 15 out of 16 kill shots
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle she should be fired and “go back to guarding Doritos,” after saying he recreated the shooting that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania and shot eight rounds, resulting in 15 out of 16 kill shots.
“I have never had any long gun training in my life. I own an AR-15 and the last time I shot it…was six years ago,” Fallon said during a House Committee on Oversight hearing with Cheatle regarding the Secret Service’s failed protection of former President Trump on July 13. “That is until Saturday, where we recreated the events in Savoy, Texas. We recreated what happened in Butler. I was lying prone on a slope roof at 130 yards at 6:30 at night and I knew that he had a scope. I didn't know what kind…red dot or magnified.
“So, I shot eight rounds from both,” Fallon said. “You know what the result was? 15 out of 16 kill shots. And the one I missed would have hit the president's ear. That's a 94% success rate. And that shooter was a better shot than me.”
Fallon told Cheatle it is a miracle Trump was not killed that day.
The lawmaker then told Cheatle it was not the roof that was dangerous, as she claimed during an interview with ABC last week when explaining why she did not have anyone on the roof during the rally.
“It was a nut job on top of the roof. You know what else is dangerous? I believe your horrifying ineptitude and your lack of skilled leadership is a disgrace,” Fallon said. “Your obvious skating today is shameful, and you should be fired immediately and go back to guarding Doritos.”
Steam account mentioned during lawmaker briefing last week did not belong to Crooks: federal source
The Steam account previously reported to have belonged to would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was not owned by him, according to a federal law enforcement source.
Original reports came from multiple sources inside an FBI briefing to lawmakers suggested the 20-year-old Crooks wrote in a post earlier this month, “July 13 will be my premier, watch as it unfolds.”
Three senate offices confirmed all of the information, with two additional offices confirming parts of the reports.
The Steam platform offers more than 100,000 games, including the assassination game "Mr. President!"
Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.
Comer, Raskin call for Secret Service Director to resign; failed to provide answers during hearing
The two ranking members of the House Committee on Oversight called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign from her post after failing to provide answers to basic questions regarding the agency’s failure to protect former President Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Chairman James Comer and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Cheatle on Monday, after she testified before the committee.
“On July 13, 2024, the United States Secret Service under your leadership failed to protect former President Donald Trump from an assassination attempt that took the life of Corey Comperatore and seriously injured at least two other people,” the letter reads. “Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures.
“In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing,” the representatives continued. “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.”
Florida Rep. Steube plans to file articles of impeachment against Cheatle
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., said Monday that he plans to file articles of impeachment against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The Secret Service director testified before the House Committee on Oversight for several hours on Monday, with Republican and Democratic lawmakers calling on her to resign from her post.
The calls come after her agency failed to protect former President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
“In light of Kimberly Cheatle’s unacceptable handling of the Trump assassination attempt, her disastrous appearance before the House Oversight committee today, and her refusal to resign, we have no choice but to impeach,” Steube said in a post on X. “I will be filing articles of impeachment against Kimberly Cheatle this afternoon.”
Secret Service Director Cheatle says president would not have been brought out if threat existed
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle attempted to explain to the House Oversight Committee on Monday, how her agency was unaware of a suspicious threat during a presidential rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, despite the public pointing to a man on a roof minutes before former President Trump was shot.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., was given an opportunity to ask Cheatle questions during a hearing with Cheatle on Monday. He started his questioning with a video taken moments before a gunman opened fire, when people in the crowd were directing law enforcement officials to a man on a roof.
The gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, ultimately began shooting at 6:11 p.m., though the state police informed the Secret service about the suspicious person 20 minutes before.
Krishnamoorthi asked Cheatle if the rally had been paused at 5:53 p.m., when the Secret Service notified its snipers about the gunman, and she told him, “no.”
As to the video of people pointing to the gunman, it took place two minutes before shots started ringing out.
“Communication is two minutes before the shots started ringing out. Director Cheadle. Yes or no,” Krishnamoorthi asked, pressing for an answer on if the Secret Service would have paused the rally if there was a known threat.
“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,” Cheatle said.
“Well, they did, because we’ve now identified three points in the 20 minutes before the shooting, that the threat emerged,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Cheatle tells House Oversight Committee she called Trump after shooting to apologize
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told the House Committee on Oversight on Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, adding that she called the presidential candidate after the shooting to apologize.
Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, with many calling on the director to resign for her agency’s botched detail to protect Trump.
Cheatle told the committee during the hearing that she called Trump after the shooting to apologize.
Rep accuses USSS Cheatle of perjury
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., accused Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle of perjuring herself and stonewalling members of the House Oversight Committee, telling her protectees are “sitting ducks” with her in charge.
Luna was given a chance to question Cheatle during a House Committee on Oversight hearing Monday, asking about the Secret Service director claiming her team was unaware of a threat at 5:59 p.m.
“According to communications, again from law enforcement that were in some of these group chats, they actually had reported that Secret Service was made aware of a threat at around 5:59 p.m. as a part of the command, including Secret Service, aware of messages and requests about information about the suspect's location,” Luna said before giving her another chance to answer if she had knowledge of the threat.
“Again, I think we’re conflating the difference between the term ‘threat’ and suspicious,’” Cheatle said.
“But you guys did have knowledge at 5:59 p.m., according to those group chats, did you not, of a suspicious individual,” Luna asked.
“Ok,” Cheatle said.
“Chairman, in my opinion, according to some of the testimony today, I feel that you have perjured yourself in some instances, and so I’m going to ask for a full review of the transcripts by staff, and if you find that to be the case, I do ask that you bring perjury charges against the director,” Luna said to Chairman James Comer.
Luna then turned her comments to Cheatle.
“I will say this. It is very frustrating. And I've talked to my colleagues, and we've said it to your face that you have been up here basically stonewalling our ability to get the answers to the American people. And what I will also say is that every single member of Congress does not feel safe with you in charge. You have heard that. And I think that we are all sitting ducks with you and directing the Secret Service currently,” Luna said. “But more importantly, it sends a message to our adversaries that we are not protected, and we are one of the strongest countries in the world. So, you have essentially made us a less safe country because of it. As a result of that, I'm asking you to formally step down.”
Tennessee rep calls Cheatle a ‘DEI horror story’
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle she is a “DEI horror story,” during a hearing on the attempted assassination on former President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
“You found explosives in the shooter’s possession, is that correct,” Burchett asked Cheatle.
“The FBI found explosives,” she said.
“Do we know who directed this young man how to make these explosives,” Burchett asked.
“I believe that the FBI is still looking into that on their investigation,” Cheatle answered.
“Ms. Cheatle, you said that the buck stops with me and I agree. I don’t think you should resign, I think you should have been fired,” Burchett told Cheatle. “Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story. I have told my daughter multiple times, my wife and my daughter, we talk with her all the time about how she’s going to succeed in life. She’ll succeed in life by achieving. Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You have let the American people down. If it was up to me, you’d be gone.”
Secret Service director can't say if she's prepared to fire people after report
Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle could not say that she was willing to make firings after receiving the full report on her agency's failure to protect former President Trump on Monday.
Cheatle made the admission under questioning from Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. the lawmaker opened by warning Cheatle that her testimony was going poorly, comparing the hearing to on earlier this year in that resulted in resignations from the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.
"I don't know who prepared you for this. I don't know how many times you've testified in front of Congress, but a president was almost assassinated live on television. Not just for Americans, but for the world to see. And this being your first opportunity, I understand there's an ongoing investigation. I understand there's things that you can not talk about, but the the idea that we're getting less than you did on television is something that Democrats, independents and Republicans are going to find unacceptable," Moskowitz said.
"Are you telling the committee that once it's concluded you're prepared to fire the people on the ground who made poor decisions that day?" he asked.
"I'm prepared to take the actions," Cheatle responded.
"No, no, no, that's that's nonsense. Okay. Accountability. The failure was human. That doesn't mean they're bad people. It means they failed that day. And a president was almost--a former president was almost assassinated. Okay. Are you prepared to fire the human failure on the ground? Yes or no? When you have the names of where those failures were, they're people. It's not like a piece of technology failed. It was people who failed that day. Are you prepared to fire them?" the lawmaker pressed.
"I don't have an answer as to whether [they will be fired]," Cheatle said.
"Well, then how can there be accountability if you're not prepared to fire someone?" Moskowitz concluded.