Secret Service director resigns 10 days after Trump shot; Hawley says Mayorkas should resign next

One day after being grilled by an angry bipartisan congressional committee, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has called it quits.

Cheatle’s resignation was first reported by NBC News, citing sources in law enforcement. A formal announcement is expected to come by the end of Tuesday. 

But one U.S. Senator from Missouri said others in the Biden administration must resign too for their parts in the security lapses 10 days ago that nearly cost former President Trump his life.

Those lapses also resulted in one dead, three others injured, when 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks fired multiple shots toward Trump, including one bullet that struck the Republican presidential nominee in the right ear.

On Monday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability demanded Cheatle’s resignation after the chairman of the committee and other members charged her with failure “to answer basic questions from Republicans and Democrats related to stunning operational failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump,” in a hastily organized hearing.   

In their closing remarks at the hearing, both Republican Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, and Ranking Democrat Member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said they would formally ask Cheatle to resign.  

The Associated Press reported that Cheatle repeatedly failed to answer questions or offered vague, unresponsive answers to members’ queries about how the Secret Service could have allowed a 20-year-old lone gunman access to a roof within 150 yards of the former president.   

Cheatle’s evasive answers to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, typifies the testimony that frustrated Congress.  

Rep. Jordan: “Director, were you guessing or lying when you said you didn’t turn down requests from President Trump’s detail? How many times did you turn them down? They asked for help multiple times and you said no. What did you say no to? How many times? Pretty basic questions.” 

Director Cheatle: “What I can tell you, when details make a request there are times there are alternate ways to handle it.” 

Rep. Jordan: “The fact you can’t even answer right now how many times their requests were denied that is pretty darn frustrating for the country.” 

Director Cheatle: “I hear your frustration.” 

Rep. Jordan: “This is the information people want to know. They pay your salary. It looks like you can’t answer basic questions, got a 9% raise, and you cut corners when it came to protection. That’s what it looks like to me. You haven’t answered one question from the Chairman, Ranking Member, or me. You haven’t answered any questions.” 

Democrats were equally frustrated by Cheatle’s responses, with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, showing video of how the gunman was identified by law enforcement 20 minutes before he started shooting, yet the Secret Service didn’t pause the event.   

Rep. Krishnamoorthi: “This is two minutes before the shots started ringing out. Director Cheatle yes or no, was there ever a moment where the Secret Service actually considered pausing the rally?” 

Director Cheatle: “The Secret Service would have paused the rally had they known.” 

Rep. Krishnamoorthi: “So the answer is no, correct?” 

Director Cheatle: “I can speak to you in generalities.” 

Rep. Krishnamoorthi: “No, no, I don’t want generalities, I want specifics, the answer is no, you did not consider pausing the rally, correct?” 

Director Cheatle: “The people 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.” 

Rep. Krishnamoorthi: “Well they did, I identified three points in the 20 minutes before the shooting when the threat emerged.” 

Cheatle had previously said she would not resign because of the failures that resulted in the shooting at the Trump rally.   

But her testimony left the House stunned, and for once, unified.  

“This committee is not known for its model of bipartisanship, and I think today we came together unanimously in our disappointment. We don’t have that confidence that you can lead,” Comer told Cheatle. 

In the wake of Cheatle’s reported resignation, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said that Biden Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should resign as well over the assassination security lapses.  

“Now Mayorkas must do the same,” Hawley posted to X, after news of Cheatle’s resignation broke. 

In a letter sent to Mayorkas on Monday, Hawley characterized the assassination attempt as a “staggering security failure by the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to appropriately protect the former president and prevent violence at a peaceful political event.” 

Hawley told Mayorkas that a whistleblower has come forward with information that the person who was supposed to be guarding the roof from which the gunman shot actually abandoned the position (called “Building 6”) because it was too hot.  

“The whistleblower further alleges that concerns over the heat prompted law enforcement to [forgo] patrolling Building 6 and instead to station security personnel inside the building,” Hawley wrote.  

Hawley has also asked the DHS Inspector General (IG) to “pull all relevant records from agency servers and ensure they are adequately preserved” to aid the ongoing investigation.  

“I strongly support your recent decision to open an investigation into ‘Secret Service’s Process for Securing Former President Trump’s July 13, 2024 Event,’” Hawley told the IG.   

Further, Hawley sent a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, “requesting that his investment firm immediately disclose to Congress any known information related to the shooter, who appeared in a 2022 company advertisement.”  

Larry Fink has been a big Biden supporter, considered one of the key megadonors who helped determine Biden’s reelection chances following his debate flubs against former President Donald Trump, reported The New York Times.   

“In 2022, we ran an ad featuring a teacher from Bethel Park High School, in which several unpaid students briefly appeared in the background, including Thomas Matthew Crooks. We will make all video footage available to the appropriate authorities, and we have removed the video from circulation out of respect for the victims,” BlackRock said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.