A Republican has deemed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle a ‘DEI horror show’ as she took attacks from both sides of the aisle on Monday during a Capitol Hill hearing.
During questioning from lawmakers, Cheatle offered few straight answers and often hid behind the ongoing Secret Service internal probe. She remained obstinate amid calls to resign from both Republicans and Democrats.
‘Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Cheatle in one moment.
‘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,’ he went on. ‘Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You let the American public down. If it was up to me you’d be gone.’
A Republican has deemed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle a ‘DEI horror show’ as she took attacks from both sides of the aisle on Monday during a Capitol Hill hearing
Democrats immediately slapped down the Republican-led attack on the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion measures.
‘The incident on July 13th has nothing to do with DEI,’ Cheatle said afterward under questioning from Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas.
Crockett suggested that the shooter had not been deemed suspicious enough to pause the Trump rally because he was a white male.
‘As a civil rights lawyer, I have learned so many times and how to deal with law enforcement,’ she said.
‘There usually is not a perception of a threat if it is a young white male, even if they are carrying a long gun,’ Crockett went on.
‘A lot of times, at least in this country, when it comes to law enforcement, there is a perceived threat just by somebody having a little bit more melanin with their skin.’
‘Republicans are making the argument that hiring women and people of color hindered the response to the shooting,’ Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said, ‘to under mine the contributions of women and people of color and it is disgraceful.
She accused Republicans of using DEI to ‘ignore gun safety measures.’
‘Women have been an integral part of the agency since 1971,’ Pressley went on. ‘To use them as a scapegoat is shameful and it is dangerously divisive.’
In another moment Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., alluded to DEI by questioning if Cheatle considered how tall agents were when deciding whether to put them on the former president’s detail.
‘Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Cheatle in one moment
In making a point about agents knowing the basics of their protectee, Perry asked Cheatle if she knew how tall Donald Trump is. She replied that he is ‘over six feet.’
‘So don’t you think you should have agents who could lift him up if needed?’ Perry went on.
At one point an angry Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., asked Cheatle a series of questions which she evaded answering.
‘You’re not doing well as [Democratic Rep. Jared] Moskowitz informed you,’ Greene said. ‘You’ve been sitting here for over three hours, the entire nation is demanding you resign. Things are not going well for you, you need to answer the questions.’
‘Was there a stand down order Ms.Cheatle? Was there a conspiracy to kill President Trump?’ Greene went on.
‘Absolutely not.’
Greene then asked for the tick tock of the day of the moments that led up to the shooting.
‘Do you have a timeline at all?’ Greene asked.
‘I have a timeline but not the specifics,’ Cheatle said, to chuckles from onlookers in the hearing room.
‘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,’ he went on. ‘Ma’am, you have not achieved today. You let the American public down. If it was up to me you’d be gone’
Cheatle could not answer the number of agents on the ground, how the shooter got on the roof, how many shots were fired, how many casings were recovered, the shooter’s motive and other questions from lawmakers.
She could not tell lawmakers how many times there had been security breaches of Secret Services protectees or provide a timeline of the day of the shooting and when Secret Service had been made aware of the threat.
‘I am completely disgusted by your performance today,’ Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Cheatle as she suggested the director had perjured herself before the committee.
Luna said she would submit Cheatle’s testimony for review for perjury charges.