Those worried that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle would avoid having to take any responsibility for the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump can finally sigh a breath of relief.
On Monday, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee held a hearing on the disastrous security failure that was the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a would-be assassin shot Trump.
Though being drilled by career politicians at a House hearing might not seem like enough, it sure is a start, especially given how hard Republican Texas Rep. Pat Fallon went after Cheatle.
After drilling her for not speaking with agents immediately following the debacle as well as for not properly securing the area ahead of Trump’s rally, Fallon ripped the Secret Service director for her now-infamous “sloped roof” excuse.
Just after the shooting, during an interview with ABC News, Cheatle claimed no Secret Service agents were stationed on the roof from which Thomas Crooks shot Trump because it was “sloped” and therefore unsafe.
Fallon promptly pointed out — as several social media sleuths had in days prior — that the countersnipers who eventually took out the assassin were stationed on an even steeper rooftop.
“These are nothing but pathetic excuses,” the congressman said. “And they make no sense and they’re a bunch of cow dung.”
“All the law enforcement I’ve spoken with over the last nine days are amazed that the AGR rooftop was not secure,” he said.
“You want to know why?” the congressman said. “Because it’s dangerous.”
Will Cheatle ever be fired as long as a Democrat is in charge of the White House?
Fallon didn’t stop there, however. The best of his questions were yet to come.
After revealing that he owns an AR-style rifle and has never had any long gun training, he said he and a team had re-created the July 13 shooting with Fallon as the gunman.
They set up the roof, distance to target and other conditions, and then the congressman took 16 shots at a target placed approximately where Trump was in relation to the shooter.
“You know what the result was? Fifteen out of 16 kill shots!” he told Cheatle. “And the one I missed would have hit the president’s ear.
“That’s a 94 percent success rate — and that shooter was a better shot than me.”
“It is a miracle that President Trump wasn’t killed,” the congressman said.
Rep Fallon just tore into the Secret Service director.
“Go back to guarding Doritos” pic.twitter.com/QrVOpiiFK7
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_4_Trump) July 22, 2024
Fallon then ended his questioning with perhaps the most personal dig by calling out Cheatle’s work history (prior to her appointment, she was the senior director of global security for PepsiCo).
“I believe your horrifying ineptitude and your lack of skilled leadership is a disgrace,” he said. “You’re obfuscating today is shameful.
“You should be fired immediately and go back to guarding Doritos.”
Since the shooting, many critics of Cheatle have pointed to her DEI agenda as a potential reason for the July 13 security failures.
Such critics were quick to point out that some of the small, out-of-shape women in Trump’s security detail that day were likely not the most qualified candidates.
It was later revealed that the Secret Security has two sets of physical standards tests for recruits.
The first is for male recruits, and the second, far less demanding set of standards is for female recruits.
