Sen. Marsha Blackburn demanded the firing of the Secret Service director after she attempted to confront Kimberly Cheatle over the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
Blackburn, R-Tenn., discussed the confrontation she had with Cheatle at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee during “The Faulkner Focus,” warning she will have to answer for the tragic shooting.
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“She’s going to have to come forward. She can run, but she cannot hide,” Blackburn told Harris Faulkner on Thursday. “She has to provide these answers. She should be fired. She should have been fired Saturday night.”
Blackburn confronted Cheatle alongside Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., while she was in a private suite at the event on Wednesday, questioning the decisions that were made leading up to the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
They decided to try to track Cheatle down at the event after Blackburn said she had a call alongside other lawmakers to brief them on the events leading up to the shooting. She said after the call was disconnected, and she found out she was on site for the convention, she took matters into her own hands.
“They said, oh, there are no more questions in the queue,” Blackburn said. “And they cut the call and everyone was like, we need some answers.”
In response to their questions during the face-to-face confrontation, Cheatle said it wasn’t an appropriate place to have the discussion, but she was happy to answer questions shortly before leaving the suite.
In a statement in response to a query about the confrontation, the Secret Service said Cheatle is committed to transparency.
“Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.”
Blackburn argued Cheatle’s priorities were skewed that night, favoring donors over everyday Americans and President Trump, who are all still searching for answers.
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“How astounding it was that she was very comfortable in that luxury suite, having a cocktail party, saying thank you to people that had helped fund security,” she said. “But Harris, she would not take five minutes and provide answers for the people, and we were trying to get answers on the phone call. How could the Secret Service allow their protectee, President Donald Trump, to take the stage at 6:00, when at 5:51, they had identified a potential threat? 5:53 they alerted the spotters and the sharpshooters, and then at 6:00, they clear him to go on the stage?”
“And she is more concerned about donors than she is about the people of this country and the president,” she continued. “I think it speaks to the priorities and the tone-deafness.”
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle at a press conference on June 4 in Chicago. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump was shot in the ear on Saturday, but one attendee was killed and two others injured. Lawmakers and other critics have questioned how the gunman was able to get so close and fire off multiple shots, as details have emerged of people seeing him climb up the building.
FBI Director Christopher Wray held member-wide briefings with both the House and Senate on Wednesday to discuss lawmakers’ questions and concerns. Barrasso told Fox News earlier that the meeting was a “100% cover-your-a—briefing.”
Cheatle has agreed to comply with a subpoena from House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer. She has called the shooting “unacceptable” and “something that shouldn’t happen again.”
Trump supporters are seen covered with blood in the stands after guns were fired at Republican candidate Donald Trump at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“The buck stops with me,” she told ABC News. “I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.”
She has also faced criticism for comments she made talking about a “sloped roof” that caused a safety issue.
“Everyone deserves answers. The taxpayers of this country, President Trump, his team, we all deserve to know what happened,” Blackburn said. “People are astounded that someone could get to that building and take a clean line of sight shot at President Trump, and it is just God’s divine providence that saved his life.”
Fox News’ Liz Elkind, Adam Shaw and Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.