US Secret Service director grilled over Trump shooting | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The head of the US Secret Service has been forced to defend herself after agents failed to protect former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Kimberly Cheatle was called before a Congressional committee in Washington on Monday to discuss the assassination attempt.

On July 13, a gunman opened fire from a rooftop during the rally, wounding Trump in the ear. He killed a man in the crowd and injured two others. Secret Service snipers then killed the shooter.

Cheatle called the shooting incident the agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades. She said the Secret Service’s “solemn mission” is to protect the nation’s leaders. She added that, as director, she takes “full responsibility” for any security lapses.

Cheatle said her organization is fully cooperating with investigations into the shooting and that she will move “heaven and earth” to ensure such a thing would never happen again.

House Republican lawmaker Mike Turner said if Trump had been killed, Cheatle would have “looked culpable.” Other committee members questioned her about why the shooter was able to access a building so close to the rally. She responded that she is “committed” to finding those answers. She also said it was not the case that Trump was denied requests for more security.

Cheatle has heard calls from Republican lawmakers, and even some Democrats, that she should resign. However, she said she will not.

White House officials say they still do not know the gunman’s motive. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has appointed an independent panel to conduct another investigation. Members will have 45 days to review the procedures of the Secret Service before, during and after the rally.