BREAKUPBREAKUP,
Kimberly Cheatle resigns following pressure after Donald Trump’s assassination attempt, US media reports.
US Secret Service Chief Resigns the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, after days of mounting pressure and criticism for failing to prevent the shooting.
The Associated Press said Cheatle sent an email to staff Tuesday announcing her intention to resign.
Cheatle a been under pressure U.S. lawmakers have decided to resign as questions continue to swirl around security protocols at Trump’s July 13 rally in Pennsylvania, where the former president and Republican presidential nominee was shot in the ear.
“I take full responsibility for this security breach,” Cheatle said in the email to staff. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to resign as director.”
The head of the secret service had faced some awkward questions during a hearing before a U.S. congressional committee on Monday on the agency’s security plan for the Trump rally.
“The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13 was the most significant operational failure by the Secret Service in decades,” Cheatle told lawmakers.
“There was clearly a mistake and we will do everything we can to ensure it does not happen again,” she said.
Trump was shot in the ear by a gunman who witnesses said had taken up position on a rooftop with a direct line of sight to the rally stage, raising questions about security measures put in place ahead of the event.
WE President Joe Biden ordered an independent review of security protocols at the rally, where one participant was killed and two others were seriously injured.
But lawmakers have pushed for more immediate answers from Cheatle and other heads of U.S. law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In a statement released Tuesday, Biden thanked Cheatle for his decades of public service and said he plans to nominate a new Secret Service director soon.
“The independent investigation to fully understand what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its findings. We all know that what happened that day can never happen again,” Biden said.
