Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, has resigned.
Cheatle submitted her resignation the day following her terrible hearing before the House Oversight Committee, in response to an increasing number of politicians from both parties urging her to do so. Ten days had passed since a lone 20-year-old shooter nearly killed former President Donald Trump on July 13 during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In an appearance on “The Glenn Beck Program,” retired Secret Service agent Dan Bongino revealed the details of Cheatle’s departure.
Lawmakers had threatened to proceed with Cheatle’s instant impeachment if he had not resigned.
She admitted to the Secret Service, “I take full responsibility for the security failure,” according to the Associated Press. “It is with a sad heart that I have made the tough choice to step down as your director in light of recent developments.”
Cheatle had sworn not to retire, even though he was in charge of the Secret Service during its biggest setback since the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Cheatle traveled to Capitol Hill on Monday with the intention of holding people accountable, but she finally declined after she made it clear that she would not step down. Despite the assassination attempt, she even informed legislators that she thought she was the “perfect person” for the position.
Legislators from both parties questioned Cheatle for hours, but she would not give detailed explanations, which resulted in the startling security lapses that killed Corey Comperatore and gravely wounded two other rallygoers.
Rather, she adopted an air of secrecy that infuriated the lawmakers.
Following the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, and Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) both called for Cheatle’s resignation.
They added, “Today, you failed to convince the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to fix its systemic mistakes and failures. You also failed to offer answers to fundamental concerns surrounding that startling operational failure.” “As a first step toward enabling new leadership to promptly address this problem and recover the trust of a really concerned Congress and the American people, we call on you to quit as Director.”