Rep. Mike Waltz Grills Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in Fiery Oversight Hearing

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I watched the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on Monday, where Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was attacked by both Democrats and Republicans for the failure to provide adequate security at the former President Donald Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, held on July 13, I remarked that, while I have had tough days at work, Cheatle’s were next level. She was subjected to four and a half hours of scathing criticism, with bipartisan calls for resignation.

The hearing was full of stunning moments, but when Rep. Mike Waltz, R-FL, asked Cheatle a question, the fireworks were almost guaranteed. Waltz received pushback from both the Secret Service spokesperson and DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after he claimed that Homeland Security had rejected the Trump campaign’s request for more protection. Waltz had previously called Mayorkas out on Twitter/X as a liar, citing a Washington Post article that confirmed his claims.

Waltz, as expected, gave Cheatle no room to maneuver when it came down to the question of security failures and denials of the campaign requests for additional Secret Service protection. He began by showing Mayorkas’ video saying that Waltz’s claims are “baseless, irresponsible statements — unquestionably false.” Waltz confirmed to CNN that Cheatle spoke with Mayorkas before Waltz made that statement.

Cheatle claimed that she told Mayorkas all the requests for this rally were met. This became the crux — Cheatle avoided the larger question of whether or not there were requests for additional protection, by limiting her answer to only the rally.

Waltz observed:

Continue to answer this very carefully. Because I made a more general statement. They said that his permanent protection detail has been demanding more for many years. Is this correct?

Cheatle retreated to avoid answering Waltz’s question, claiming that she did not have the request in front of her, which was not what Waltz asked. She then said, depending on the “availability of assets,” it might be possible to “mitigate the vulnerability” “in a slightly different way.”

Waltz pressed even further.

Your boss tells you that it’s “irresponsible” and “false” to claim the events were not confirmed. You had spoken to him. Did he… just… come up with that on his own? Did you tell him?

Cheatle once again restricted the response to the rally. Waltz confronted Waltz with the following statement by Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi:

Untrue claims have been made that a former member of the President’s security team asked for additional resources and that they were refused. This is a complete lie. We added more protective resources, technology, and capabilities to our campaign travel as a result of increased campaign travel.

Waltz asked Cheatle if she had signed the statement. She tried to avoid giving a direct response but eventually admitted that she had.

Waltz turned his attention to press conferences and updated the public with pertinent information after the assassination.

WALTZ: How many press conferences did you hold since the assassination?

CHEATLE: Um, we have released a press release.

WALTZ: How many times have you given a press conference, and answered questions from the media, the public ….how?

CHEATLE: No, I’ve never held one.

WALTZ – How many… has Secretary Mayorkas held?

CHEATLE: “I don’t”

WALTZ: Zero. How many FBI detainees have there been? Zero. How many has the Department of Justice held so far? You know the answer.

CHEATLE: After the incident, I think there was a news conference in Butler.

WALTZ: Local law enforcement. You and the Department of Homeland Security are not responsible.

Waltz emphasized that the lack of information was what drove people to speculate, and spread “misinformation,” including the claims by national news anchors that the incident had been a hoax. Waltz noted that Cheatle did not do anything to dispel any incorrect notions regarding the incident.

You would be fired, Madam Director — no matter what the outcome was — for how you handled it. You should have spoken up first, saying, “America, the world, I’m going to make sure we get to the bottom of this.” I want to ensure full transparency. Our agency had major shortcomings here. Ich will personally accept responsibility. You should have stood first with Secretary Mayorkas. Even if I were to go as far as saying that we should have daily press conferences, informing everyone of what we know. You haven’t done any of this. What’s your excuse? You’re only making things worse. This is something you have heard from both sides: In the absence of any information, you are making things worse.

Waltz concluded the beating by pointing out that Cheatle had originally been scheduled to fly to Aspen Security Forum to “hobnob” with “liberal elites” during the RNC, before urging her to follow her predecessors’ example who resigned following security failures.

The furor she has received over her failures and the lack of accountability makes me suspect that Cheatle’s (hours?) days as Secret Service Director are numbered. Secret Service Director is numbered.

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