Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle refused to answer questions at the Republican National Convention about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Uproar over the failed assassination attempt is growing as more details slowly leak about what the Secret Service knew and what they did — or did not do — with that information in the hours leading up to a lone gunman opening fire on Trump at a campaign rally last Saturday.
‘She can run, but she cannot hide.’
On Wednesday, it was revealed that law enforcement had identified the gunman as a suspicious person an hour before he opened fire. And despite the fact that a Secret Service counter-sniper team spotted the gunman 20 minutes before shots rang out, the Secret Service still allowed Trump to take the stage.
It remains unclear how the 20-year-old gunman seemingly duped the Secret Service.
But at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Republican senators tried on Wednesday to extract answers from the woman ultimately responsible for Secret Service operations.
Video shows a group of Republican senators — including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 Senate Republican, and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) — dress down Cheatle. There was apparent frustration among the lawmakers after Cheatle reportedly allowed only four questions at a Senate briefing earlier in the day.
“Resignation or full explanation to us right now!” Barrasso told Cheatle.
“Why would anyone allow [Trump] to go on stage when you know you’ve got a potential threat?” Blackburn grilled.
Cheatle, however, refused to answer the questions.
“I don’t think this is the forum for this conversation,” she told the lawmakers.
The director claimed she is “happy” to answer their questions, but she answered none of them. She then tried to walk away, which angered the lawmakers. They quickly followed her and continued to grill her.
“This is exactly what you were doing today!” Barrasso screamed. “It’s called stonewalling!”
“This was an assassination attempt! You owe the people answers! You owe President Trump answers!” Blackburn said.
Cheatle has admitted the Secret Service “failed” its “no-fail mission” of protecting Trump, but she has thus far remained defiant.
In a statement released after the tense confrontation with the senators, the Secret Service reaffirmed that Cheatle “has no intentions to step down.”
But that’s not good enough, according to Blackburn.
“It is appalling that the Secret Service director refused to answer our questions. This is one of the greatest security failures in the history of the agency. She can run, but she cannot hide,” the Tennessee Republican said in a statement shared with Blaze News.
“She is a failed leader, and she needs to immediately step down from her position,” Blackburn added.
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