Palmer Relentlessly Grills Secret Service Director On Donald Trump Shooting: 'You Failed'

3 months ago

At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) questioned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

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Transcript

00:00The Chair now recognizes Mr. Palmer from Alabama for five minutes.

00:07Director Cheadle, did local law enforcement ESU teams have compromise authority to engage

00:14a perceived threat?

00:16Yes.

00:17Why do you think they didn't use it?

00:21I believe that they follow the same use of force that our agencies do.

00:26When you have compromise authority, you don't have to get permission if you perceive a threat.

00:29And there were not just the ESU units, but there were local law enforcement that had

00:36line of sight on the shooter before the shots were taken.

00:40So one of my questions is, there was supposed to be a briefing with the Secret Service sniper

00:48units, your counter-assault team members, with the contract team, with the local ESU

00:56teams.

00:58That didn't take place.

00:59How is that?

01:00So I have been told that there has been a briefing.

01:02There was a briefing that took place.

01:04I've been told that there wasn't one.

01:06And again, we are still looking into the facts of the investigation.

01:10Let me ask you this.

01:13When were you informed that there was a credible threat against President Trump, former President

01:18Trump?

01:19When did you learn of that?

01:21Sir, the former president has a number of threats.

01:23I didn't ask you that.

01:25There was a credible threat from Iran.

01:27When were you informed of that?

01:30Answer the question.

01:31We have been monitoring the threats for the former president.

01:34You knew before the rally, okay?

01:38Right?

01:40The site security plan is generally drafted by the site supervisor and the site agent,

01:48probably out of the Pittsburgh district office.

01:52Did they take into account the credible threat against President Trump?

01:56Our personnel take into account the threats that are out there.

01:59Then why would they leave a building, and I will correct the distance that's been quoted.

02:02It's about 140 yards with a clear line of sight to the president.

02:06Why was that building not occupied on the roof?

02:09I mean, you could have put Barney Fife on the roof and kept somebody from getting up

02:13there.

02:14So why wasn't that done?

02:17The plan that was developed that day encompassed a number of security mitigations.

02:23The issue is the site supervisor, the site agent, and the special agent in charge, who

02:32I think signed off on the plan, did not include that in the inner perimeter, and they didn't

02:38have a plan to secure the building.

02:42As I understand it, the Butler County ESU unit was situated on the second floor of a

02:47building next to that, but they didn't have a clear line of sight of the roof.

02:51The angle was too severe.

02:54The photograph that was taken of the young man, of the shooter, when he had the rangefinder,

03:00was taken at 515.

03:02It wasn't until 538 that that photograph was transmitted to the Secret Service sniper units.

03:09I don't understand the lack of interoperability here in the communication process.

03:13I don't understand why people didn't perceive that as a credible threat.

03:18The video that Mr. Christian Morphy had shown there was clearly a credible threat.

03:24So how is it that all of these mistakes could be made?

03:29How many explosive devices were found on or near the site?

03:34Again, I would have to defer you to the FBI.

03:37Madam, I believe they were in his car, and I think there might have been one near a main

03:43gas line.

03:46It wasn't just the fact that he had a rifle, it was the fact that he had the ability to

03:51inflict enormous harm, enormous numbers of casualties, had those devices exploded.

04:00I want to know also, when your agents conduct a site review, are they fully informed of

04:13all of the threats that are being made against the principal that they're protecting?

04:22What I can tell you is that when our agents go out to conduct an advance, their whole

04:26goal is to ensure the safety and security.

04:28I understand what your goal is.

04:30The failure to secure that building not only put the former president's life in danger,

04:34it put the lives of individuals in the crowd in danger as well.

04:39The Reagan shooting, there were other people shot at that time as well, and the Secret

04:46Service members' lives were in danger.

04:50I don't understand how you can continue to stay in the position you're in when this was

05:00a failure of historic magnitude, 43 years without anything like this happening, and

05:09you failed, in this case, in a spectacular way.

05:13Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back.

05:14The gentleman yields back.

05:16Chair recognizes Mr. Mfume from Maryland.

05:20Thank you, Mr. Chair.

05:21I want to commend you and the ranking member on your joint statement and for holding this

05:26hearing that we might all at least attempt to try to get through.

Palmer Relentlessly Grills Secret Service Director On Donald Trump Shooting: 'You Failed'

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