'The Face Of Incompetence': James Comer Lays Into Secret Service And Director Kimberly Cheatle

2 months ago

At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) spoke about Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

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Transcript

00:00will come to order. I want to welcome everyone here today, and I know we also

00:04want to welcome Speaker Johnson, who is also in attendance today. Without

00:10objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time. I now recognize

00:16myself for the purpose of making an opening statement, but first, without

00:22objection, Representative Mills of Florida and Representative Miller of Ohio are

00:27waved on to the committee for the purpose of questioning the witness at

00:31today's hearing. Without objection, to order. Good morning. Today's hearing is

00:37for the American people who are seeking answers about the attempted assassination

00:41of President Trump. A little over a week ago, Americans watched in

00:46horror as a shooter attempted to assassinate President Donald J. Trump at

00:51a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The gunman nearly succeeded. The bullet

00:57that struck President Trump's head was less than an inch from taking his life.

01:02President Trump survived, but one rally-goer, Cory Comparatore, tragically

01:08did not. Two others were seriously injured. It was a horrifying moment in

01:14American history. The horror was exceeded only by the bravery of the law

01:18enforcement agents who threw themselves in harm's way when shots were fired, the

01:23bravery of a crowd unwavering in its refusal to panic, and the bravery of a

01:28bloody President Trump refusing to run. While we give overwhelming thanks to the

01:35individual Secret Service agents who did their jobs under immense pressure, this

01:40tragedy was preventable. The Secret Service's protective mission is to

01:46protect U.S. and visiting world leaders and safeguard U.S. elections through

01:51protection of candidates and nominees. The Secret Service has a zero-fail

01:57mission, but it failed on July 13th and in the days leading up to the rally. The

02:03Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but

02:09it has now become the face of incompetence. The committee has a long

02:15track record of providing oversight of the Secret Service. Our predecessors, both

02:20Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings, among others, worked together to issue warnings

02:25and recommendations to address obvious shortcomings in the agency's makeup and

02:30operations. Unfortunately, those warnings and recommendations have gone unheeded. A

02:36former president and current candidate for president was shot in the head by a

02:41sniper within 500 feet of the podium. This is unacceptable, and we are

02:47concerned the Secret Service lacks the proper management to keep protectees

02:52safe from bad actors. Americans demand answers, but they have not been getting

02:58them from the Secret Service. We are instead learning about new facts about

03:04the events surrounding the attempted assassination every day from whistle

03:08blowers and leaks. Americans demand accountability, but no one is yet to be

03:15fired for this historic failure. Today's witness, Secret Service Director

03:21Kimberly Cheadle, is here under subpoena to answer questions about how the agency

03:27failed President Trump and the victims who attended the rally in Butler,

03:31Pennsylvania. It is my firm belief, Director Cheadle, that you should resign.

03:37However, in complete defiance, Director Cheadle has maintained she will not

03:41tender her resignation. Therefore, she will answer questions today from members

03:45of this committee seeking to provide clarity to the American people about how

03:48these events were allowed to transpire. We will ask these questions because the

03:54Secret Service and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, have

03:58been unwilling to provide answers to the American people. DHS has sought to push

04:03this hearing to a different time. Secret Service has suggested the hearing occur

04:08without media presence and both agencies have provided only shallow explanations

04:14to Congress about what happened on July 13th. Indeed, DHS and Secret Service's

04:20lack of communication with the Oversight Committee required me to issue a subpoena

04:25compelling Director Cheadle to attend today and still DHS requested more time

04:30to prepare. It shouldn't take this much time or preparation, Director Cheadle, to

04:36tell the truth and to be transparent with the American people. I am thankful

04:42to the Ranking Member, Mr. Raskin, for joining me and insisting that Director

04:46Cheadle appear today. God knows the Ranking Member and I disagree on many

04:50things, but that does not matter today. The safety of Secret Service protectees

04:55is not based on their political affiliation and the bottom line is that

04:59under Director Cheadle's leadership, we question whether anyone is safe, not

05:05President Biden, not the First Lady, not the White House, and certainly not the

05:10presidential candidates. The July 13th assassination attempt is one of the

05:15darkest days in American political history. It represents the ugliest parts

05:20of what American politics has become, hatred of each other and a dangerous

05:25turn to extremism. Before we were Republicans or Democrats, we are

05:30Americans. If we place our political affiliations above our duty and love of

05:34country, we cannot maintain a country. We must ensure our Republic is strong

05:40and our Republic cannot be strong when our leadership, our elections, our

05:44institutions and our candidates are threatened by extremism and violence.

05:51Today, Director Cheadle will answer questions about why she deserves to

05:54continue to play a critical role in preserving this country's safety and at

05:58the very least, what led to the catastrophic, deadly events on July 13th

06:04in Butler, Pennsylvania. Again, I do not believe Director Cheadle deserves to

06:08maintain her position as head of the Secret Service, but members of the

06:12American and the American people will make their own decisions based on her

06:15answers today. I urge Director Cheadle to be transparent and forthcoming in her

06:20testimony today. Americans deserve no less. We have a duty to find out how this

06:27happened and to ensure it never happens again. I now yield to Ranking Member

06:33Raskin for his opening statement.

'The Face Of Incompetence': James Comer Lays Into Secret Service And Director Kimberly Cheatle

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