Ex-Secret Service director fires back at Rand Paul's accusations she lied about lack of resources given to Trump's Butler rally
Paul (R-Ky.) alleged that Cheatle had not been truthful to Congress when she testified that the Secret Service didn't deny Trump's team resources it requested for the Butler, Pa. rally.
'The Director of the Secret Service is not typically directly engaged in the approval or denial of requests for support,' she said in a statement Sunday, released by her attorney. 'For the Butler rally, I actually did direct additional assets to be provided, particularly in the form of agency counter-snipers.'
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'Any assertion or implication that I provided misleading testimony is patently false and does a disservice to those men and women on the front lines who have been unfairly disciplined for a team, rather than individual, failure.'
Cheatle's attorney confirmed to The Post that her statement was directed at Paul's report and his 'defamatory comments on Face the Nation' earlier in the day on Sunday.
3 Kimberly Cheatle vehemently refuted allegations that she gave misleading testimony to Congress.
The Washington Post via Getty Images
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3 Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the Butler, Pa., assassination attempt.
AP
Paul, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released his scathing report on the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt against Trump. It concluded based on documents that there were 'at least two instances of assets being denied' by the Secret Service related to the Butler rally.
That entailed a request for more Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS), which are used to counter drones, which was 'unfulfilled due to the lack of manpower to support the request.'
Additionally, the Secret Service did not provide a Counter Assault Team liaison to coordinate between its operation and the local team, according to testimony from the advance agent.
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Paul's report found that broadly speaking, there were at least 10 major requests for more resources from the president's team during the 2024 campaign cycle that were either denied or unfulfilled.
Cheatle had testified to the House Oversight Committee nine days after the assassination attempt last year that 'for the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied.'
'She did not tell the truth,' Paul told CBS News' 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. 'The primary request that was made by both Trump's Secret Service detail, as well as his campaign, was for counter-snipers.
'Counter-snipers were denied until Butler. So, thank God, on that day in Butler County, Pennsylvania, that was the first time he was allowed counter-snipers.'
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The former Secret Service director revealed that she read through some of the report, was 'aware of certain congressional criticism,' and agrees that 'mistakes were made and reform is needed.'
3 Sen. Rand Paul had ripped into former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle in his report on the assassination attempt.
AFP via Getty Images
She stressed that her testimony to the Oversight Committee was based on 'information provided to me by personnel from Headquarters' as well as current Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who helmed Trump's detail at the time.
Cheatle also paid tribute to the families impacted by the deadly shooting at the rally.
'The tragedy that occurred on July 13, 2024, remains a profound event that deeply affected our nation,' she said. 'My thoughts and heartfelt condolences continue to be with all those impacted.'
Cheatle resigned as Secret Service director a day after she testified before the House Oversight Committee. Acting director Ronald Rowe briefly took her place during the months that followed.
Trump appointed Curran as Secret Service director shortly after taking office again back in January.
Multiple investigations from lawmakers in Congress, as well as law enforcement, have uncovered a myriad of shortcomings in the run-up to the assassination attempt.
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Despite the concerns, Trump has said that he still retains 'great confidence in these people.'
'They should have had somebody in the building [Crooks shot from], that was a mistake,' he told Fox News' 'My View With Lara Trump' in an interview that aired Saturday. 'They should have had communications with the local police, they weren't tied in.
'So there were mistakes made … But I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot,' he added. 'I have great confidence in these people. I know the people. And they're very talented, very capable. But they had a bad day. And I think they'll admit that. They had a rough day.'
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