President Joe Biden said in written a statement Tuesday that he is “grateful” for the disgraced Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, who allowed former President Donald Trump to get shot in the ear and an innocent father and husband to be murdered.
Cheatle announced Tuesday she would resign from her post following a devastating hearing from the House Oversight Committee on Monday highlighting the deadly consequences of her leadership.
A letter from Biden praised Cheatle’s incompetent leadership.
“[Cheatle] has selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career in the United States Secret Service,” the statement read. “We especially thank her for answering the call to lead the Secret Service during our Administration and we are grateful for her service to our family.”
“As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” the statement continued. Cheatle notably refused to resign for more than a week after the assassination attempt, and Biden did not call on Cheatle to submit her resignation.
The letter states Biden will “plan to appoint a new Director soon.”
Under Cheatle’s so-called “leadership,” a 20-year-old gunman managed to climb onto a roof with a direct line of sight to the former president during a recent Pennsylvania rally and fire off several shots. Trump was struck in the ear after he made a split second decision to slightly turn his head to look at a chart.
Trump later said that he “took a bullet for Democracy.”
Sadly, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore was fatally struck by a bullet while shielding his wife and daughter from the gunfire. Two other rally goers were severely injured.
Cheatle admitted her failure during Monday’s hearing and said the agency would be conducting an investigation into the assassination attempt — but could provide little to no information about the findings thus far. Cheatle has also refused to cooperate with Congress and has withheld requested documents, South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace alleged on Monday. Cheatle also told Congress on Monday that the agency has no radio recordings from the day of the assassination attempt.
Questions about the Secret Service’s actions on that fateful day continue to swirl, with Fox News reporting that the gunman hid the firearm before he went on a deadly shooting spree.
“It was not immediately clear where he hid it, however,” Fox News reported. “By the time agents spotted him on the roof, he was already holding it.”
Further, Cheatle said no counter-snipers were assigned to guard the roof on which the assassin stationed himself because it was “sloped” and so they had to consider the “safety factor.” Cheatle also told ABC News that the gunman “was actually identified as a potential person of suspicion” but that Trump was nonetheless still permitted to take the stage.
Video footage captured by rally goers shows several people alerting authorities to the shooter holding a gun just minutes before Trump was nearly assassinated.