During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) questioned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle about their mission and communication protocols following the assassination attempt against President Trump.
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NewsTranscript
00:00recognizes Mr. Burleson from Missouri.
00:03Director Cheadle, I just want to kind of get an idea
00:08of what you can answer,
00:11because outside of what the FBI is responsible for,
00:15you have full responsibility
00:17for the Department of Secret Service.
00:19So the question is, what is the mission?
00:24And who defines the mission?
00:26Our mission of the Secret Service is to protect
00:30the president, the vice president,
00:32their immediate families, presidential candidates,
00:35the former presidents, and those by executive order,
00:39and we also have an investigative mission.
00:41And those are well-defined?
00:42Yes.
00:43Everyone within the agency understands the mission?
00:45Yes, they do.
00:46What about protocols and standards?
00:48Who defines the protocols and standards?
00:50We have a number of protocols and policies in place
00:54for the various missions that we have.
00:57So would it be safe to say that you failed the mission,
01:01the ultimate mission?
01:03I have stated repeatedly here today
01:05that there was a failure.
01:07What about specific failures within protocols
01:11and guidelines within the agency?
01:14Again, I am certain that the investigation
01:19that is being conducted internally,
01:20as well as the external investigation.
01:22You said earlier in the hearing
01:23that there was either a communication,
01:25there was errors in communication,
01:28or in operations.
01:30Could it be both?
01:33In both errors in operational decisions
01:36and errors in communications?
01:38I think the investigation potentially could identify both.
01:44So I want to talk about communications.
01:47Representative Boebert asked earlier
01:48about using encrypted apps.
01:50That you said you have not used, I guess, Signal.
01:56Have you used any encrypted app to communicate
02:00from your personal device?
02:03I do, on occasion, use encrypted apps to communicate.
02:08So you use some form of an encrypted app
02:12to communicate with people within the federal government,
02:16with local law enforcement?
02:19Whom are you communicating using encrypted apps?
02:22Many times, it's with colleagues and associates.
02:26So you're communicating with colleagues
02:28on a personal device?
02:31There are times that the Secret Service,
02:33when we work internationally with some of our partners,
02:37that they don't have the same texting capability.
02:41And you're not able to do that
02:43with your government-issued device?
02:46No.
02:47Recently, we have been able to install
02:49some of those apps on government devices.
02:52Okay.
02:54Let's talk about some of the things
02:57that we can get access to.
02:59I'm actually shocked that you are using
03:01your personal device and encrypted communication tools.
03:06I think that that might be the most shocking thing
03:07that I've heard today.
03:09I didn't expect for you to say that.
03:12We have requested, this committee has requested
03:16multiple documents.
03:18This is not under the purview of the FBI.
03:21This is under your purview.
03:22We requested a complete list
03:24of all law enforcement personnel,
03:26including Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security,
03:29local law enforcement with the roles
03:30of protecting the president.
03:32And we requested for us to receive that by July 18th.
03:37Did you provide that?
03:39I believe that our agency is in the process
03:41of collecting all documents.
03:43So you have not provided it.
03:45How long does it take to determine
03:47who the personnel were that were on site?
03:50We are collecting a comprehensive list
03:52of all the documents that have been requested.
03:55We also requested all the audio and video recordings
03:58that your agency, not the FBI,
04:01but your agency has in possession related to the event.
04:04Did we receive those?
04:05Have you provided those at all?
04:07We are in the process
04:08of collecting all documentation requested.
04:11You're in the process, but you have not.
04:14Any memorandums or any internal communications
04:19related to the event?
04:22We requested that you provide that.
04:23Have you provided any of that?
04:25We are in the process of collecting the information
04:28that has been requested.
04:30Okay.
04:31So when can we expect to receive these documents?
04:35How long does it take to determine who was on site?
04:40Who was being employed to be there
04:42to protect the former president?
04:45When can we expect that?
04:47How many days does it take to provide that information?
04:50We wanna make sure that we have a comprehensive accounting
04:53of all of the documents that were engaged in that day,
04:57and we will make them available as soon as possible.
04:59I think transparency is the key here.
05:01It's shocking to me that we are communicating
05:03in a encrypted app to colleagues.
05:08I'm almost certain that violates some federal laws.
05:11I would like to clarify,
05:13you didn't ask me whether my communications
05:15were government work-related
05:17or whether they were personally related.
05:19You're communicating with colleagues.
05:20I don't communicate government business
05:23with colleagues on a personal device.
05:26I communicate on my work device.
05:28Are you using an encrypted device on your work device?
05:30I am not.
05:31No encrypted apps?
05:33No, I do not.
05:33Okay, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:36Chair, now recognize Mr. Walts from Florida.