A top House investigator shared on Sunday a sneak peak of what sorts of questions will be asked when Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies about the security failure underlying the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania last weekend.
Set for 10 a.m. ET on Monday, the hearing “will serve as the beginning” of the “process to get answers for the American people as to what went wrong with an agency that has a no-fail mission,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream.
Comer, who subpoenaed Cheatle to appear for the hearing, noted how a spokesperson for the Secret Service denied reporting that claimed the Trump campaign requested more resources, but The Washington Post “confirmed” that the former president’s team asked for more.
Lawmakers have “a lot of questions as to how they’re [the Secret Service] managing their money,” Comer also said, adding there have been “lots of investigations” of the Secret Service over the years “and reports issued that they lacked proper training, that they did not efficiently spend their funds.”
Questions have been raised about how a shooter, identified as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man named Thomas Matthew Crooks, managed to get onto a nearby rooftop and begin shooting with an AR-style rifle roughly 150 yards away from the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, before the Secret Service could stop him.
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A bullet ripped through Trump’s right ear, causing blood to pour down his face. The shooter also killed one rally-goer and injured two others. A Secret Service sniper reportedly shot and killed the gunman from another building while other personnel rushed to protect Trump and escort him off the stage.
Multiple investigations into the incident have been opened, including an expansive inquiry in the GOP-led House. Part of the hearing on Monday will likely focus on whether Cheatle should remain as director of the Secret Service amid calls for her to resign or for President Joe Biden to fire her.
“Our question for Director Cheatle is: are you competent to run the Secret Service? We want to know who is at fault for what happened,” Comer said. “Every American can tell that there should never have been allowed anyone on that roof.”
Comer said the “fact that there are videos showing that people were trying to notify the authorities, that there was a person on the roof with a gun and nothing was done about it and that shooter was allowed to get that many shots off at President Trump. That’s unacceptable.”
He added, “Not only do we need answers, but people need to be held accountable. And that’s what the director is going to have to answer tomorrow. She’s going to have about a six-hour hearing and she’s going to have hundreds of questions that she’s going to have to answer and the American people will be watching that hearing.”
