WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� said Monday that her agency failed in its mission to protect former President Donald Trump, as lawmakers of both major political parties demanded during a highly contentious congressional hearing that she resign over security failures that allowed a gunman .
Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly angering lawmakers by 小蓝视频 questions about the investigation during the first hearing over the . Cheatle called the attempt on Trump鈥檚 life the Secret Service鈥檚 鈥渕ost significant operational failure鈥� in decades, and vowed to 鈥渕ove heaven and earth鈥� to get to the bottom of what went wrong and make sure there鈥檚 no repeat of it.
鈥淭he Secret Service鈥檚 solemn mission is to protect our nation鈥檚 leaders. On July 13th, we failed,鈥� she told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Cheatle acknowledged that the Secret Service was told about a suspicious person two to five times before the shooting at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally. She also revealed that the roof from which opened fire had been identified as a potential vulnerability days before the rally. Cheatle said she apologized to Trump in a phone call after the assassination attempt.
Yet Cheatle remained defiant that she was the 鈥渞ight person鈥� to lead the Secret Service, even as she said she takes full responsibility the security lapses. When Republican Rep. Nancy Mace suggested Cheatle begin drafting her resignation letter from the hearing room, Cheatle responded, 鈥淣o, thank you.鈥�
In a rare moment of unity for the often divided committee, the Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer, and its top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, issued a letter calling on Cheatle to step down.
The White House didn鈥檛 immediately comment on whether President Joe Biden still has confidence in Cheatle after her testimony.
Democrats and Republicans were united in their exasperation as Cheatle said she didn鈥檛 know or couldn鈥檛 answer numerous questions more than a week after the shooting that left one spectator dead. At one point, Mace used profanity as she accused Cheatle of lying and dodging questions, prompting calls for lawmakers to show 鈥渄ecorum.鈥�
Lawmakers pressed Cheatle on to the Republican presidential nominee when he was supposed to be carefully guarded, and why Trump was allowed to take the stage after local law enforcement had identified Crooks as suspicious.
"It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States. Regardless of party, there need to be answers,鈥� said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.
Cheatle acknowledged that Crooks had been seen by local law enforcement before the shooting with a rangefinder, a small device resembling binoculars that hunters use to measure distance from a target. She said the Secret Service would never have taken Trump onto the stage if it had known there was an 鈥渁ctual threat." Local law enforcement took a photo of Crooks and shared it after seeing him acting suspiciously, but he wasn鈥檛 deemed to be a 鈥渢hreat鈥� until seconds before he opened fire, she said.
鈥淎n individual with a backpack is not a threat,鈥� Cheatle said. 鈥淎n individual with a rangefinder is not a threat.鈥�
Cheatle said local enforcement officers were inside the building from which Crooks fired. But when asked why there were no agents on the roof or if the Secret Service used drones to monitor the area, Cheatle said she is still waiting for the investigation to play out, prompting groans and outbursts from members on the committee.
鈥淒irector Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent," said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio. "If he were killed, you would look culpable.鈥�
Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the Democrats who joined the calls for Cheatle to resign, noted that the Secret Service director who presided over the agency when there was later stepped down.
鈥淭he one thing we have to have in this country are agencies that transcend politics and have the confidence of independents, Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives,鈥� Khanna said, adding that the Secret Service was no longer one of those agencies.
Trump was wounded in the ear, a former Pennsylvania fire chief and two other attendees were injured when opened fire with an AR-style rifle shortly after Trump began speaking.
Cheatle said the agency hopes to have its internal investigation completed in 60 days. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has separately appointed a bipartisan, independent panel to review the assassination attempt, while the department鈥檚 inspector general has opened three investigations.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan delegation of about a dozen members of the House Committee on Homeland Security toured the shooting site Monday. The lawmakers said they were the first group outside law enforcement to climb onto the roof where the shooter positioned himself.
Authorities have been hunting for clues into what motivated Crooks but have not found any ideological bent that could help explain his actions. Investigators who searched his phone , Biden and other senior government officials and found that he had looked up the dates for the Democratic National Conventional as well as Trump鈥檚 appearances. He also searched for information about major depressive order.
The attack on Trump was the most serious attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since . It was the latest in a series of security lapses by the agency that has drawn investigations and public scrutiny over the years.
Cheatle took over two years ago as head of the Secret Service's 7,800 special agents, uniformed officers and other staffers whose main purpose is protecting presidents, vice presidents, their families, former presidents and others. In announcing , Biden said Cheatle had served on his vice presidential detail and called her a 鈥渄istinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills鈥� who had his 鈥渃omplete trust.鈥�
Cheatle took the reins from James M. Murray as multiple congressional committees and an internal watchdog from when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Secret Service says they were purged during a technology transition.
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Lauer reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press reporters Michael Kunzelman and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.
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Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Secret Service at .
Alanna Durkin Richer, Farnoush Amiri And Claudia Lauer, The Associated Press
