Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, questioning the agency’s handling of the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
What Happened: On Monday, Ocasio-Cortez took to X to express her concerns. She questioned the Secret Service’s protective measures during the incident, particularly the range of their protective perimeter. She also criticized the agency’s lack of public response to questions from Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez asked, “Why was the Secret Service’s protective perimeter in Butler shorter than the range of an AR-15?” She said it didn’t take 60 days to answer that question.
She told Cheatle at a House Oversight Committee hearing that irrespective of the party it was unacceptable to wait that long for the report to come out.
The post comes in the wake of a failed assassination attempt on Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. The incident, which occurred on July 13, led to widespread criticism of the Secret Service’s security measures.
Why It Matters: The Secret Service has faced scrutiny following the assassination attempt. Cheatle, who appeared before the House Oversight Committee, admitted that the agency had failed in its duty to protect the former president. Despite this, she has refused to step down from her position.
Reports suggest that Trump had been requesting additional security measures for two years before the incident, but these requests were repeatedly ignored by high-ranking officials. The Secret Service cited a lack of resources as the reason for this.
Ocasio-Cortez is not the first to call for Cheatle’s resignation. Earlier, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also demanded Cheatle step down, citing the security failure during the assassination attempt.
Photo via Shutterstock
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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Shivdeep Dhaliwal
