Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) criticized Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for projecting that a report regarding an investigation into the security failings during former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, would be ready within a “60-day” timeline.
During a hearing before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that “the notion of a report” being released in 60 days was “not acceptable” given that the “threat environment” in the United States was “so high.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s words came after Cheatle responded to a question about a “ballpark estimate” regarding when a final report on the investigation surrounding the assassination attempt on Trump would be released. Cheatle stated that the Secret Service was “targeting” to have a report on an internal mission assurance investigation finished within 60 days.
“Director Cheatle, respectfully, what you had just laid out about 60 days, we are currently in the midst of an especially concentrated presidential campaign in the moment, that is also paired with of course elections happening across the country, that are happening in about 100 days,” Ocasio-Cortez began. “So, the notion of a report coming out in 60 days, when the threat environment is so high in the United States, irrespective of party, is not acceptable.”
“And I think it’s very important to understand that,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “This is not theater. This is not about jockeying. This is about the safety of some of the most highly targeted and valued targets internationally and domestically in the United States of America. So the idea that a report will be finalized in 60 days — let alone prior to any actionable decisions that would be made — is simply not acceptable. It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States, regardless of party.”
The hearing comes after Trump was shot by a “bullet that pierced the upper part” of his right ear after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks allegedly opened fire from the rooftop of a nearby building.
Ocasio-Cortez was one of the “Squad” members who spoke out against political violence, calling it “absolutely unacceptable,” and wished Trump a “speedy recovery.”
Cheatle worked in the U.S. Secret Service for 27 years before becoming senior director of Global Security for PepsiCo. In August 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Cheatle as the new director of the Secret Service, and she has has served in that capacity since September 2022.
Since the assassination attempt on Trump, Cheatle has faced intense scrutiny and calls to resign over the security failings during the Trump rally.
The inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security has launched an investigation into the Secret Service after the assassination attempt on Trump.