Secret Service Chief Quits After Failed Trump Assassination Attempt

The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job, according to an email she sent to staff, following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission, Colleen Long reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures. I Photo: Sydney Phoenix, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Flickr

Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” she said in the email to staff Tuesday. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your director.”

Cheatle’s resignation comes a day after she appeared before a congressional committee and was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans for the security failures.

She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades and said she takes full responsibility for the security lapses but angered lawmakers by failing to answer specific questions about the investigation.