James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Jamie Raskin, the committee's top Democrat, recorded the call with the director of the Secret Service in a joint letter.
Kimberly Cheatle has admitted that her agency was wrong when it failed to prevent the July 13 attack, and said she takes full responsibility for security shortcomings. But she has refused to resign, saying she is the right person to lead the service.
Kimberly Cheatle also admitted that Secret Service agents securing the event were tipped off multiple times about a “suspicious person” before the shots were fired, and also stated that the slanted roof concealing the gunman had previously been assessed as a security risk.
The intelligence chief added that after the assassination, he apologized to Donald Trump over the phone for this oversight.
A special congressional committee on Monday tried to explain in a hearing that lasted several hours how gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to hide on the roof of a building located in the immediate vicinity of the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign rally, where he fired several shots in the ear, hitting Donald Trump, killing one campaign rally attendee and fatally wounding two others.
Cover photo: Former U.S. President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate(s), is surrounded by Secret Service agents during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Photo: MTI/AP/Gene J. Puskar)
