Secret Service director backtracks as feds, local law enforcement point fingers over Trump rally security
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has backpedaled on a previous claim that local law enforcement was responsible for roof security where a gunman opened fire on former President Trump.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appeared to backpedal Tuesday as her agency and local law enforcement pointed fingers over the security lapse at former President Trump's Pennsylvania rally.
Cheatle said in an interview with CNN the Secret Service was "solely responsible" for security at Trump's rally, where 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks managed to climb on top of a nearby building and fire a rifle at Trump. One spectator was killed, and the Republican candidate and two others were injured during the attempted assassination on Saturday.
She told CNN that no assets from the rally were diverted on the day Trump was shot, even though other events in the state required Secret Service protection.
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"At that particular site, we divided up areas of responsibility, but the Secret Service is totally responsible for the design and implementation and the execution of the site," Cheatle told the outlet.
Previously, the Secret Service director told ABC News that local law enforcement was responsible for the AGR International Inc., building, where Crooks found a sniper's perch.
"What I was trying to stress was that we just divided up areas of responsibility, and they provided support to those areas of responsibility," Cheatle said, adding that the Secret Service "couldn't do our job without" local law enforcement.
Cheatle told ABC that the "buck stops with her" but added that local police had been in charge of the AGR International facility and that officers were inside it.
"In this particular instance, we did share support for that particular site and that the Secret Service was responsible for the inner perimeter," Cheatle told ABC. "And then we sought assistance from our local counterparts for the outer perimeter. There was local police in that building — there was local police in the area that were responsible for the outer perimeter of the building."
When asked if the perimeter at the rally was too small, Cheatle told CNN it "encompassed the area that we needed to secure the event that we had on that day."
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"What happened is a terrible incident and should never happen. And we are obviously going to make sure move forward we take whatever any lessons that come out of this and adjust accordingly."
She added that a full advance had been completed on the day of the shooting and that both an internal and external review are taking place regarding the security breach.
"[If] there are things that we need to change about our policies, or our procedures, or our methods, we are certainly going to do so," Cheatle said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general has opened a probe into the Secret Service handling of Trump's rally. It comes after President Biden announced earlier this week that he had directed an independent review of Saturday's incident.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the lower chamber is conducting an "immediate" and "thorough" investigation as well, while House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., invited Cheatle, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray to testify on July 23 "to examine the facts and circumstances" surrounding the assassination attempt, according to a news release.
Cheatle and the Secret Service are facing heightened scrutiny after Crooks managed to scale the top of the building and establish a line of sight to Trump about 130 yards away as the president spoke. She has refused calls to resign.
Fox News Digital reported that a local law enforcement officer spotted a suspicious man carrying a range-finder just 30 minutes before Saturday’s attempted assassination in Butler.
That officer reported the sighting to state police, a law enforcement source said. He took a photo, and there was a discussion about whether he was carrying a pair of binoculars to try and see the rally better. However, a few minutes into Trump's remarks, Crooks began shooting, according to authorities.
Cheatle praised the agents who worked the rally on the day of the assassination attempt, both those she had spoken with and others she intends to speak to.
"They’re obviously difficult conversations. Everyone [who] works for the Secret Service never wants to have a day like that," Cheatle told CNN. "We perform our job flawlessly. The people who covered and evacuated the president on that day, the counter sniper — performed their job flawlessly, and I’m very proud of the actions that they took."
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo, Greg Norman and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.