Secret Service

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Secret Service under the microscope

A shoe remained on the campaign rally stage after yesterday's assassination attempt. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Multiple Republican-led House committees are launching investigations into federal law enforcement's handling of yesterday's shooting, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke, Stef Kight and Andrew Solender report. FBI Director Christopher Wray said law enforcement "will leave no stone unturned" in its investigation, AP reports. What we're hearing: Lawmakers are still scrambling for detailed information on precisely what happened during and around the shooting. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was briefed yesterday, his office told Axios. A bipartisan pair of House members said today they plan to introduce a bill to enhance Secret Service protections for Biden, Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Between the lines: The Secret Service has already begun pushing back on some allegations that Trump was left inadequately protected. Agency spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi took to X to deny claims that "a member of the former President's team requested additional security resources and that those were rebuffed," which he called "absolutely false." "In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo," he added.

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What to know: Secret Service director

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is expected to take a proactive role in addressing security issues in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

Why it matters: Saturday's shooting underscored security concerns for elected leaders and shined a spotlight on the role of the Secret Service in protecting current and former presidents.

The latest: Cheatle said in a statement that the Secret Service will "participate fully" in the review and work with congressional committees on any oversight action.

Flashback: Biden appointed Cheatle to lead the Secret Service in 2022, making her the second woman ever to lead the agency.

• Prior to her appointment, Cheatle served as the senior director for Global Security at PepsiCo. Before joining Pepsi, Cheatle spent 27 years in the Secret Service and served in a variety of leadership positions.

Zoom in: While Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) claimed that the Secretary of Homeland Security denied repeated requests to increase Trump's Secret Service protection; the Secret Service firmly denied the allegation.

• "This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo," Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi wrote on X.

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Secret Service pressure cooker

Secret Service agents stand at the ready as President Biden gets into the presidential limousine after disembarking form Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport yesterday in Las Vegas. Photo: Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images

The Secret Service was already on high alert before Saturday's attempted assassination because of an Iranian threat against former President Trump. Why it matters: Bipartisan fury has dominated the days since Trump was shot, and that was before the revelation his protective detail was already beefed up to account for an outside threat. Human intelligence revealed the Iranian threat in recent weeks, CNN first reported. The Secret Service and Trump campaign were reportedly both warned of the threat. Trump has been the target of Iran's ire since he ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020. The big picture: House Republicans are launching major investigations into the Trump assassination attempt. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is set to subpoena Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear at the panel's July 22 hearing, a committee spokesperson tells Axios' Juliegrace Brufke. The Secret Service has vowed to cooperate with congressional investigations. The bottom line: Donald Trump Jr. told Axios' Mike Allen today that his biggest question he wants answered about the events of Saturday is, "How did someone get that close for that long?" "A guy does not get on a rooftop with a rifle where there's people, and now I've seen the videos for five minutes saying, 'There's a guy on a rooftop with a gun,'" he said. "It literally doesn't happen. I've shot with these guys, I came from a competitive shooting background. ... That doesn't happen without a serious breach of something."

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⚡️ Bipartisan fury at Secret Service

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced bipartisan calls to resign during a contentious hearing today in the House, Axios' Ivana Saric and Avery Lotz report.

• Reps. James Comer and Jamie Raskin — the chair and top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee — jointly called for her resignation after the hearing.
• "I just don't think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told Cheatle.
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told Cheatle that she was "full of s**t" and "completely dishonest" during an exchange about materials the committee had requested.

💬 What she's saying: Cheatle said she accepted "full responsibility" for the security lapses that preceded the assassination attempt against former President Trump. She characterized the shooting as the "most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades."

 

Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says ‘we failed’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump, as lawmakers of both major political parties demanded during a highly contentious congressional hearing that she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman to scale a roof and open fire at a campaign rally.

https://apnews.com/article/secret-service-trump-rally-shooting-kimberly-cheatle-fabaf9a0e57d5545e5b60f0b2215778f?

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Secret Service

 

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced off Monday with angry House lawmakers from both parties who grilled her over the security failures that led to the recent assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Cheatle conceded the incident was a "colossal failure" on behalf of the Secret Service but refused to resign from her role. Before Trump took the stage at the rally in Pennsylvania, the director said, the Secret Service had been notified "between two and five times" that there was a suspicious person in the area. She repeatedly stonewalled lawmakers' efforts to get further answers and pointed to the ongoing FBI investigation. New details have trickled out about the gunman, including that he visited the rally site twice before the event and may have even flown a drone over the area on the day of the shooting.

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Secret Service director resigns after Trump assassination attempt

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following the attempted assassination of former President Trump earlier this month at a rally in Pennsylvania, Axios has learned.

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/23/kimberly-cheatle-resigns-secret-service-trump?

Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency failed in its core mission to protect current and former presidents.

https://apnews.com/article/secret-service-director-trump-rally-8b1b13cece2ff25590c81093032dceb4?

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Secret Service

 

Former President Donald Trump has agreed to sit for an interview with the FBI to provide his "perspective" of the failed assassination attempt this month. This comes as questions remain about the security errors, lapses and missed opportunities to stop Trump's would-be assassin before the Pennsylvania rally got underway. Text messages released and radio chatter detailed Monday show that law enforcement officers lost sight of the shooter, and further illustrate the confused communications around tracking him at the July 13 event. The Secret Service is adjusting how it approves security plans for all future protected sites and events, according to excerpts of congressional testimony that Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe will deliver today.

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At least 5 Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty after Trump assassination attempt

At least five Secret Service agents have been placed on modified duty after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in July, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

https://apnews.com/article/secret-service-trump-shooting-f96d0d1dc85ca3d33e74eafc1177ff0b?

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🌐 Secret Service's hardest week

A rare look inside the UN Security Operations Center in Manhattan. Photo: Stefan Jeremiah/AP The next challenge for an embattled Secret Service: This week's UN General Assembly (UNGA), an annual diplomatic pilgrimage that brings more than 140 world leaders to Manhattan. Why it matters: The agency — under a cloud after a July assassination attempt on former President Trump — is confident in its multi-layer, multi-agency plan to protect UNGA, which is deemed a Super Bowl-level National Special Security Event, AP reports. Beyond motorcades and protective details, the plan includes NYPD helicopters and patrol boats, a dozen UN security K-9 teams sweeping for explosives, road closures and traffic diversions. The Secret Service is bringing in agents from posts around the world. Data: Gallup. Chart: Axios Visuals 📉 Above: The Secret Service's approval rating plummeted 23 points in a new Gallup poll largely conducted before the second Trump assassination attempt just over a week ago.

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Trump overcharged Secret Service by 300% for accommodations at his hotels

Donald Trump billed the government for Secret Service accommodations at his hotels many times over what other guests were charged, particularly foreign dignitaries, according to a report released Friday from Democratic members of the House oversight committee.

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3638911687751-trump-overcharged-secret-service-by-300-for-accommodations-at-his-hotels?