The U.S. Secret Service director has some explaining to do after a gunman nearly completed an assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday.
As The Daily Signal’s executive editor Rob Bluey wrote, eyewitnesses of the shooting said that they attempted to warn authorities about the shooter in the minutes before the attack but that the Secret Service failed to stop the gunman for carrying out the attack.
There were also some concerning videos of agents as Trump was escorted away from the rally who appeared to not know what they were doing.
Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, said on Saturday that what happened was a “catastrophic failure” for the Secret Service.
“This is an obviously catastrophic failure and NO excuses should be made, or even attempted,” Bongino posted on X. “The failures are profound and questions must be answered about ground surveillance, air surveillance, post-stander support, and counter-sniper advance work and response. We have ONE job, and we came within inches of a deadly failure today. An uneventful failure is NOT a success.”
Bongino called on the director to resign.
So, who is the Secret Service director?
Here’s a little background on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Career in Secret Service
Cheatle was picked to lead the Secret Service by President Joe Biden in August 2022. According to USA Today she’s been on and off involved in the Secret Service for 25 years.
“Cheatle has served more than 25 years with distinction for the United States Secret Service across a number of leadership roles,” USA Today wrote. “She worked on the Vice Presidential Protective Division, and in 2021, Biden awarded Cheatle with a Presidential Rank Award.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that she was the first woman to serve as assistant director of protective operations and her appointment as the head of the Secret Service made her the agency’s second female director.
“When he appointed her director, Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden got to know Cheatle while she served on his security detail during his vice presidency,” Wall Street Journal reported. “’She has my complete trust,’ the president said in 2022.”
Biden praised Cheatle when he selected her to lead the Secret Service.
“Jill and I know firsthand Kim’s commitment to her job and to the Secret Service’s people and mission,” the president said. “When Kim served on my security detail when I was Vice President, we came to trust her judgement and counsel.”
Before Biden brought her on as the Secret Service director, Cheatle worked for PepsiCo North America where, according to the Secret Service website “she was responsible for directing and implementing security protocols for the company’s facilities in North America.”
Diversity Efforts
Cheatle has been a forceful advocate of diversity in the Secret Service and in the security industry.
She spoke about this in a 2022 interview with the website “Women in Security” while she was still working at PepsiCo.
“That achievement in a male-dominated industry was not lost on me,” Cheatle said in the interview. “I kept a photo on my desk of the first five women sworn into the service, and I used that to remind me that these women created opportunities for me and I can help others grow and lead as well.”
In a CBS interview in 2023, Cheatle addressed some of the issues in the Secret Service and said that a major priority would be diversity efforts. CBS noted that Cheatle was committed to having the Secret Service be 30% women by 2030.
As a part of that effort to increase the number of women she wanted to have YouTube influencer Michelle Khare train with agents.
What People Are Saying
A number of lawmakers and commentators have been critical of Cheatle after the assassination attempt of Trump took place.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday called for an immediate investigation and demanded the director come before Congress and answer questions.
“THE HOUSE WILL CONDUCT A FULL INVESTIGATION OF THE TRAGIC EVENTS TODAY,” Johnson wrote on X. “The American people deserve to know the truth. We will have Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other appropriate officials from DHS and the FBI appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said that she should be “suspended immediately.”
New York Post writer Miranda Devine said that Cheatle’s tenure has been an “abject failure.”
Radio host Eric Metaxas said that Cheatle should be “fired” and that this should be the end of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk, responding to a post on X about Cheatle’s time working for PepsiCo. posted that before being put in charge of protecting the president “she was guarding bags of Cheetos.”
Musk further wrote that Cheatle should resign.
The post Secret Service Director Put Focus on Diversity appeared first on The Daily Signal.
0 Comments