'Guessing or lying?' Jim Jordan yells at Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) started a hearing Monday by yelling at Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Cheatle was appearing before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions regarding the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump,
"Director, were you guessing or lying?" Jordan bellowed. "The Washington Post said this: Top officials repeatedly rejected requests from Donald Trump's security detail for more personnel."
The congressman noted that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had said that no resources were denied to Trump's security detail.
"Were you guessing or lying when you said you didn't turn down requests from President Trump's detail?" Jordan demanded.
"Neither, sir," Cheatle replied.
"What? What were you doing? Because those statements don't jibe," Jordan pressed.
"So what I can tell you is that for the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied as far as requests," Cheatle insisted.
"Maybe they got tired of asking!" Jordan scoffed. "Maybe you turned him down so darn much. They said not worth asking."
"I think that it is important to distinguish between what some people may view as a denial of an asset or a request," the director noted.
"So more than once they asked for additional help, and you turned him down," the GOP lawmaker concluded. "What they asked for and how many times you turn them down."
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"So again, without having all of the details in front of me, sir, what I can tell you is that there are times..." Cheatle said before Jordan interrupted.
"You didn't get briefed on how many times you turned down the Trump detail when they asked for additional help!" he shouted. "You didn't get briefed on that before you came to this hearing, knowing you were going to get asked that question."
"And the fact that you can't answer how many times you did that, that's pretty darn frustrating, not just for me, but for for the country," Jordan added.
"I hear your frustration," Cheatle acknowledged.