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Secret Service chief Kimberly Cheatle was shielded by her own officers after furious US senators chased her down the corridors of the Republican Convention, demanding she explain how a gunman was able to hit Donald Trump in a clear shot.
Cheatle was at the convention hall in Milwaukee to oversee security preparations Wednesday night, just hours after briefing senators about the shooting in Pennsylvania Saturday night.
Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee followed Cheatle, complaining that they had not had the opportunity to ask her questions during the video conference.
A frustrated Barrasso then delivered an ultimatum to the head of the Secret Service.
“You took him to the point where his life was endangered by just 1 centimeter,” Barrasso yelled at Secret Service Director Cheatle.
"Resignation or full explanation."
The chase continued down a hallway and down a flight of stairs before ending when Cheatle entered a bathroom and her attendants stopped her pursuers from entering after her.
Video of the incident was later posted by Senator Blackburn.
"Do we deserve ANSWERS from the Secret Service?"
Barrasso and Blackburn later said they were unhappy with what they heard during the conference call with Cheatle and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
They said the two were still waiting to ask Cheatle a question when the conference was over.
"We were trying to understand the root of what had happened, how the shooter was on the roof alone and able to shoot at Trump," Barrasso said.
Fellow Republican senators James Lankford of Oklahoma and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota also joined the pursuit of the Secret Service chief.
Cheatle has been under increasing pressure since it was revealed that her agents had been warned repeatedly about would-be assassin Thomas Crooks as he prepared to shoot the president at last Saturday's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Instead of placing snipers on the roof of the building from which Crooks fired, she made the decision to secure the building from the inside.
"That building in particular has a sloping roof at its highest point," she claimed.
"So there is a safety factor that was taken into consideration and we made the decision to secure the building from the inside," Cheatle added.
Witnesses also reported several times minutes before the assassination that they saw him climb onto the roof with an AR assault rifle, but the lack of security meant he was unable to carry out his assassination attempt on the 45th president. - of.
Four sources close to President Biden's family, including people who interacted with Cheatle during the Obama-Biden administration, told the New York Post that she was well liked by Jill Biden and her top aides, including adviser Anthony Bernal.
"Cheatle served as second lady Jill Biden's security and Anthony helped her ascend," a Democratic insider said.
"I heard at the time she was being considered for director that Anthony had proposed her name," another source added.
Republicans preparing to hold her responsible for the assassination have already focused on her background.
Before being nominated by President Biden in 2022, she worked for PepsiCo as a senior director in Global Security.
She worked for 25 years at the agency and in the Vice President's Protective Division.
????FULL VIDEO: Secret Service Director REFUSES to answer to the American people. pic.twitter.com/MPVOke5zhY
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) July 18, 2024
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