Director Kimberly Cheatle’s Written Statement to the Oversight Committee Regarding the Attempt to Assassinate Former President Trump
Distinguished members of the Committee, Ranking Member Raskin, and Chairman Comer, good morning.
I am the Director of the US Secret Service, and my name is Kimberly Cheatle. I’m grateful for the chance to address you today. I briefed both houses of Congress last week, and I’m here today to try my best to respond to your questions.
I’m thinking of the former president Donald Trump and his family in light of the most serious operational lapse at the Secret Service in decades—the attempt on his life on July 13. My deepest sympathies go out to the family of Corey Comperatore, a hero and former fire chief who was slain in this horrible shooting. In addition, I would like to extend my best wishes for a quick recovery to David Dutch and James Copenhaven, who were hurt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
I would be negligent if I did not offer my sympathies for the loss of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, your colleague. The loss of Ms. Jackson Lee, who was constantly involved in the Secret Service’s oversight, is immense for this organization.
Safeguarding the leaders of our country is the serious duty of the Secret Service. We failed on July 13. I assume complete responsibility for any security breach in my capacity as the Director of the US Secret Service. We, as an agency, are participating completely in the FBI’s investigation, the supervision you have started here, and, at my request, we are carrying out an internal mission assurance review. Similarly, we will collaborate with the DHS Office of the Inspector General and the ongoing external review.
We need to know what went wrong, and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that something similar doesn’t happen again on July 13. I’m constantly thinking about what we could have done differently.
36 people are presently under the daily protection of the Secret Service, in addition to foreign dignitaries that come to the United States, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who landed in Washington today.
Let me be clear from the beginning: Nothing I have stated in the past should be taken to suggest that our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners—who assisted the Secret Service in Butler, Pennsylvania—are to responsible for this disaster. Without them, we could not perform our duties.
The worst fear for the men and women who toil around the clock, year-round, to keep these kinds of attacks from occurring in the first place is an attempt on the life of a Secret Service protectee. Assassination attempts against persons we defend have been made, discovered, and foiled over our 159-year existence. Our officers, agents, and support staff are aware that we are expected to give our lives on a daily basis in order to complete a mission that is guaranteed to succeed.
As was seen on July 13th, our special agents were willing to give their all without hesitation, shielding former President Trump with their own bodies on stage as gunfire was occurring. The former president’s detail, the counter-sniper team that took out the gunman, and the tactical unit that covered for them during the evacuation have all done me proud.
I promise to be as open and honest as I can with you, but please be aware that there are occasions when disclosing extremely sensitive defensive procedures carries dangers that may prevent me from responding fully in an open forum. Thousands of documents need to be reviewed, hundreds of people need to be interviewed, and there are numerous ongoing investigations into this occurrence. I don’t want to unintentionally provide you false information today. I might not be able to address every individual item that has surfaced during the last nine days.
We have successfully acquired more than 7,500 sites since January 1, 2024. It is crucial to remember that every event is unique. Every protective advancement has a unique set of difficulties and needs a tailored mitigation plan with particular resources, people, and technology.
In every advance, we try to find a compromise between our need for security and allowing the protectee to be visible. Having worked for this agency for 29 years, I am aware of this.
I worked my way up: I oversaw all investigations and protective visits in the state of Georgia, supervised on Vice President Biden’s detail, led our training center, secured events for every president since President Clinton, and oversaw the agency’s entire protective mission during the Trump Administration.
The Secret Service, the protectee’s team, and our local law enforcement partners work together to organize the entire advance process. As soon as this event was announced on July 3, preparations got underway. Like the president we have now, the former president can face several dangers at any same time. The former President’s security was stepped up well in advance of the campaign and has continued to rise as new threats surface. As part of the security plan, the Butler Farm showgrounds were thoroughly inspected to find security flaws and create a plan that would safeguard attendees, our protectee, and the general public.
The inner, middle, and outer perimeters are protected by Secret Service agents working with our law enforcement partners. The Secret Service created a security strategy that consists of these three concentric rings of protection.
Plans for security are multi-layered and offer complete protection. These layers, which are a force multiplier for our defensive posture, consist of manpower, technological, and tactical assets.
We can deploy security assets to address distinct issues presented by distinct locations inside a protective site with the aid of our technique. Even though the resources used in each protection ring are different, all of them are equally important from a security standpoint.
The Secret Service depends on the relationships we’ve developed over years of cooperation to safeguard events and carry out investigations. Whether it’s with the Department of Defense to transfer presidential and vice-presidential assets or local partners to secure motorcade routes, we couldn’t do our jobs without them.
We provide a wide range of tactical resources, including intelligence teams, K-9, countersnipers, countersurveillance, counterassault, and technical security officers. All of these teams collaborate to maintain unity amongst all parties.
After the attempted assassination, I immediately ordered the opening of my Crisis Center and gathered my executive team to secure an active crime scene, start providing the former President with additional protective resources, and see to it that our people were well after the occurrence. I promptly directed that the security plan for the Republican National Convention be reevaluated, and I stepped up protection for all permanent protectees and venues in the National Capital Region. I also started an agency-wide mission assurance investigation at the same time.
I have given my staff the directive to devote all available resources to looking into these issues. We will keep going until we have considered every possibility, and we won’t stop at anything. To be clear, though, I’m not waiting for these investigations to be finished before making any modifications.
Just 2% of our applicants get hired as special agents due to the intense competition for the position. I have been concentrating on staffing levels, acquiring technology, improving hiring procedures, and assessing our training facilities and hiring practices ever since I took over as Director. The fact that we gained a net of more than 200 special agents this year makes me proud.
We have successfully oversaw the Republican National Convention and the 75th NATO Summit during the last two weeks. We will carry out the security arrangements for the Democratic National Convention, the UN General Assembly, and the 2025 Inauguration over the course of the following few months. The men and women of the Secret Service need to focus on what’s essential to completing our vital task and maintain their resilience now more than ever.
In order to meet the demands of our current purpose and to plan for future needs, our agency must have enough resources. The DHS Homeland Security danger assessment from September and the FBI’s and DHS’s subsequent warnings that the danger landscape was raised reflect a heightened and dynamic threat environment that is still present today. The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which have been declared a National Special Security Event, another presidential campaign, and many more events are all scheduled for the upcoming years. I am confident that the procedures I have put in place during the last 20 months as Director, along with my almost 30-year tenure here, have made the organization stronger.
Our goal is not to advance any political agenda. As the awful events of July 13th remind us, it truly is a question of life and death. I have complete faith in the Secret Service agents, both male and female. We should assist them in carrying out our protecting job.
I will now respond to any queries the Committee may have, Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Raskin, and Committee members.
