Rep. Tim Burchett Blasts Biden’s Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle as a ‘DEI Horror Story’ in Fiery Oversight Committee Hearing

In a heated exchange during an Oversight Committee hearing, Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) fiercely criticized Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle, labeling her a “DEI horror story.”

During the hearing, Burchett grilled Cheatle on the apparent absence of agents on a tin roof, a location from which he suggested a significant security threat could have been monitored.

Butchett: Were agents or officers inside the building? If so, what floor were they on?

Cheatle: We had local police officers inside the building.

Butchett: The roof looks like it’s a tin roof. How did no one inside that building hear someone moving on top of a metal roof?

Cheatle: I don’t have the details of all of the interviews that have been conducted yet.

Butchett: When will you have those?

Cheatle: I have been asking, and I want to have that information as soon as you do as well.

The Tennessee Congressman criticized the Secret Service for not utilizing drone technology or aerial surveillance during the rally.

Butchett: Why did Secret Service fail to block the line of sight from that roof?

Cheatle: I think that the Secret Service put together a plan where they were counting that roof in as part of their overwatch, and that was the plan that they had put in place that day.

Butchett: If you weren’t going to put a security personnel on the roof, why not at least use drone technology or aerial surveillance to monitor the rally?

Cheatle: There are a number of times that we do use drone technology. I’m not speaking specifically to this event and what was utilized or not. There are times when drone technology is available and helpful at events, and there are times when it is not appropriate.

Rep. Burchett asked whether Cheatle used the encrypted messaging app Signal for official communications.

Butchett: Do you personally use Signal to communicate with any official from the White House? Signal on your phone.

Cheatle: Oh, on occasion, I’m sure that there are people that use Signal. Yes. Okay.

Butchett: Do you use it to speak with the White House? Use Signal?

Cheatle: No, I do not.

The congressman’s most pointed criticism came when he asked Cheatle why Trump was allowed on stage just 10 minutes after the Secret Service had spotted a suspicious individual. Burchett expressed his disbelief at this lapse in security, stating that it was “the worst thing of all.”

Butchett: When was Thomas Crooks first identified as a person of interest? Let me help you. At 5:10, he was spotted with a range finder at 5:51. When did Secret Service notice him?

Cheatle: Again, I don’t have those specific timelines, but it was a relatively short period of time.

Butchett: Let me help you. 5:52. Ms. Chetel, why was President Trump allowed on stage 10 minutes after the Secret Service spotted a suspicious individual? That seems to me to be the worst thing of all. Of all the breakdown in all this communication, all the BS you’ve been feeding us here today or not feeding us. That seems to be the question.

Cheatle: As I’ve stated before, there are a number of events where suspicious people may be identified that doesn’t necessarily-

Butchett: Ma’am, I submit to you, you got a guy who’s going to be the next president of the United States.

Butchett: He’s on stage. I’ve been to these events. We’ve all been to these events. A car backfires, and there’s a 15-minute dadgum wait. That’s not acceptable. Did the Secret Service tell President Trump they have you spotted a suspicious individual before he was shot?

Cheatle: I am unclear as to what the communication was with the former President at that time.

Butchett: Okay, I’ll take that as a no.

Burchett continued his line of questioning by asking if the Secret Service had denied any requests from Trump for additional security and whether any personnel had been redirected from Trump’s event to Jill Biden’s rally. Cheatle denied both allegations.

Recall, The Gateway Pundit reported that it turns out the Secret Service decided to shift critical resources to guard Jill Biden’s campaign event in Pittsburgh and away from the 45th President’s rally. Both were held on Saturday

Two sources told Susan Crabtree of Real Clear Politics this was because they were following the agency’s protocol of treating Trump as a former president. This is despite the fact this “former president” is the frontrunner to become the next president of the United States and has the largest political following in the country. She also poses a critical question: who decided to divert these resources to Dr. Jill’s paltry event?

Butchett: Did you all deny President Trump’s request for more security, yes or no? When was the most recent request for additional security?

Cheatle: The rally request for security, all of those requests were fulfilled.

Burchett: Were there any personnel redirected to Jill Biden’s rally?

Cheatle: No.

Butchett: Who made the decision on the direction of agents at either one of those rallies?

Cheatle: I’m unclear as to your question on the direction of the agents.

Burchett: I said, who directed those agents to be at Ms. Biden’s rally or President Trump’s rally, the specific agents?

Cheatle: There is a methodology in which agents are available for assignments, and they are assigned based on either geographic location or logistics or flight-

Burchett: Ma’am, I appreciate all that, but that methodology about got President Trump killed.

Butchett: Was the security detail guarding President Trump a temporary detail?

Cheatle: The personnel who are assigned to the former President’s detail are assigned to him.

Butchett: Why was there a different detail on the opening night of the convention than the detail that was guarding him in Pennsylvania?

Cheatle: The President has a very large permanent protective detail assigned to him. They work shift work, and so it could be that people you saw at the rally were not working the same shift the day that he was-

Burchett: I can assure you, ma’am, somebody that’s a lot shorter than the President was not at the convention, and the people that were carrying down behind the mass of agents that were on top of the President were not in the convention hall.

Butchett: At least I didn’t see them. You can’t seem to answer a single question about an ongoing investigation, ma’am, and I don’t know when the information will be released publicly. Are you waiting for the administration to sign off?

Cheatle: No, I am waiting for the results of the investigation, at which time-

Burchett: Let me ask you one more question. You found explosives in the shooter’s possession. Is that correct?

Cheatle: The FBI found explosives.

Butchett: Do we know who directed this young man, how to make those explosives?

Cheatle: I believe that the FBI is still looking into that in their investigation.

The fiery exchange concluded with Burchett suggesting that Cheatle should have been fired for her perceived failures. He disparagingly referred to her as a “DEI horror story,” implying that she was a poor example of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in action.

Butchett: Ms. Chetel, you said that the buck stops with me, and I agree. I don’t think you should resign. I think she should have been fired. Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story. I’ve told my daughter multiple times, my wife and my daughter, we talk to her all the time about how she’s going to succeed in life. She’ll succeed in life by achieving. Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You’ve let the American public down.

WATCH:

President Trump’s head was almost taken off his shoulders. Secret Service Director Cheatle is about the most unqualified, least remorseful person I’ve ever met. pic.twitter.com/saC37uMFdb

— Rep. Tim Burchett (@RepTimBurchett) July 22, 2024

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