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Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling for the step down of U.S. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle following the failed assassination attempt against President Donald Trump last weekend.
During a Wednesday interview with Fox News, while in attendance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the House Speaker called the security breach “inexcusable” as he stated the answers from officials have been not “forth coming.”
“I’m going to call for her resignation,” Johnson said. “Look, I think it’s inexcusable…Her explanation to the media that there was a slant on the roof, so there was safety concern — it doesn’t wash. And I think she’s shown what her priorities are.”
Johnson noted that he would be setting up a special task force within the House in order to investigate the attack against Trump and his supporters.
Calls for Cheatle to step down from her position began to surface quickly after the attack on Saturday, with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and billionaire Elon Musk being some of the first, according to ABC News.
Questions regarding how 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was later identified by FBI officials, have circulated within the press as multiple reports have indicated police had spotted Crooks prior to the shooting, the New York Post reported.
In a first interview since the incident, Cheatle sat down with ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas on Monday to note that while the “buck stops with her” she would not be stepping aside despite the calls.
“The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary,” Cheatle said. “It was unacceptable and it’s something that shouldn’t happen again.”
