Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is facing questions about why former President Donald Trump was allowed to get on the stage at a rally where he was almost assassinated.
On Monday, Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about the assassination attempt on Trump.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) noted reports that local police were aware of “a man who had been acting suspiciously,” who turned out to be the shooter, and yet the former president was allowed to go on the stage, and asked if those reports were accurate.
Cheatle noted the man was identified as suspicious.
“Why was [Trump] allowed to take the stage with a suspicious person being identified in the crowd?” Raskin asked.
Cheatle responded by saying Trump’s protection detail would not have let him on the stage if they were notified of a threat.
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Raskin asked if it was accurate to say the Secret Service did not know the shooter had a weapon.
“To the best of our knowledge and the facts that we have at this point, that is correct,” Cheatle said.
During the hearing, Cheatle called the incident the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.” She added, “I accept responsibility for this tragedy… We are going to look into how this happened, and we are going to take corrective action to ensure it never happens again.”
