Cheatle Tells Lawmakers She Hasn’t Visited Pennsylvania Site of Trump Shooting Since Attack

Washington: US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, on Monday, said had not visited the site of the assassination attempt of former President of the US Donald Trump as yet.

“Have you visited the site,” Rep. Pat Fallon asked Cheatle.“No, I have not,” she said. “Nine days and you have not visited the site,” Fallon responded. “You should have been there that night.” 

Cheatle said that her agency failed in its mission to protect Trump during a highly contentious Congressional hearing with lawmakers of both major political parties demanding she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.

In her first congressional hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt, Cheatle repeatedly angered lawmakers by evading questions, citing ongoing investigations. She called the attempt on Trump's life the Secret Service's “most significant operational failure” in decades.

Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person “between two and five times” before the shooting. And Cheatle said that the roof from which the shooter fired had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally.

Yet, Cheatle gave no indication she intends to resign even as she said she takes “full responsibility” for any security lapses at the Pennsylvania rally. Cheatle vowed to “move heaven and earth” to ensure that nothing like it ever happens again.

“The Secret Service's solemn mission is to protect our nation's leaders. On July 13th, we failed,” Cheatle said. (with AP inputs)