Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle announced Tuesday she is resigning from her post over the agency’s failures to properly protect former President Donald Trump from an attempted assassination on July 13.
In an email sent to staff obtained by The Oversight Project, a division of The Heritage Foundation, Cheatle admitted that the Secret Service fell short of its mission to protect the former president.
“The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she said. “As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director,” she said, noting that she had served as a special agent for 27 years and emphasizing her commitment to serving with honor and integrity.
“As I stated in the hearing yesterday, all of you are worthy of trust and confidence,” she continued. “You deserve the nation’s support in carrying out our critical mission. One of my favorite things about this workforce is that the men and women are fiercely committed to our mission.”
Her resignation follows an hours-long hearing on Capitol Hill on Monday in which Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump.
Numerous lawmakers—from both sides of the aisle—had called for Cheatle to resign after a gunman fired multiple shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 33 miles north of Pittsburgh. A former fire chief, Corey Comperatore, 50, died shielding his family from the gunfire, and two other rally attendees were injured.
Throughout the hearing, Cheatle angered lawmakers by refusing to divulge information, citing the ongoing investigation into the assassination attempt.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal.
Trump reacted to the news in a post on Truth Social.
“The Biden/Harris administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for democracy,” he wrote. “IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”
In a statement issued from the White House in President Joe Biden’s name on Tuesday, Biden expressed gratitude to Cheatle “for her decades of public service.”
“She has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service,” he said. “We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our administration, and we are grateful for her service to our family.”
The statement emphasized that “the independent review” of the attempted assassination will continue.
“I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” the Biden statement said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again. As we move forward, I wish Kim all the best, and I will plan to appoint a new director soon.”
In written testimony on Monday, Cheatle had called the assassination attempt “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades.”
“I am keeping him and his family in my thoughts,” Cheatle had said in her written testimony. “I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief and a hero, who was killed in this senseless shooting. I would also like to acknowledge those who were injured in Butler, Pennsylvania, David Dutch and James Copenhaven, and I wish them a speedy recovery.”
Fred Lucas, Virginia Allen, and Elizabeth Mitchell contributed to this report.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal by Mary Margaret Olohan.