Biggs Torches Cheatle's Evasiveness at Secret Service Hearing

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight Committee Monday to answer questions about the numerous security failures present at the rally held by former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, which allowed Thomas Matthew Crooks to shoot at Trump and kill Corey Comperatore and injure two others. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) chastised Cheatle's evasiveness in answering his questions, demanding an independent investigation into the day's events because of it.

Rep. Biggs hit Cheatle with both barrels immediately upon receiving his five minutes, opening with, "Your agency [the Secret Service] has a no-fail mission, and on Saturday, July 13th, your agency spectacularly failed. The failure resulted in the death of Corey Comperatore and serious injuries to two other rally attendees, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, besides the injuries to President Trump. It is unfathomable that a 20-year-old on the radar of the Secret Service and local law enforcement before President Trump went on stage was able to climb onto the roof of a building with a rifle and fire off multiple rounds before he was neutralized."

"Was Mr. Crooks acting alone?" the Arizona Congressman asked bluntly.

Cheatle said she "would have to refer you to the FBI investigation."

Rep. Biggs then asked what the security perimeter established by the Secret Service for the event was, as Crooks was approximately 130 yards from Trump.

The Director said, "Those are questions we are asking," as well, prompting Biggs to declare, "You know you were going to be asked that question because it has been asked multiple times, so this is an easy one," and chastised her lack of clear answers even as Cheatle declared her insistence not to resign.

"As someone who said, 'The buck stops with me, I am going to stay in my job, I am going to give answers to the American people, and I know what happened.' Except you are not going to tell us, you are not going to tell the American people, and you yourself said in an interview that that foments this notion of conspiracy theories. Guess what? When you sit here and repeatedly tell people, 'Hey, I have to wait,' it has frustrated everybody on this committee. Guess what? It undermines your credibility and whether you are really going to get to it," the Arizona Congressman fumed.

Thus, he called for an independent investigation into the day's events, saying, "We can have these kinds of interview sessions, you know, everybody gets a kiss on the pig, five minutes, and she gets to stonewall us [and] not deliver answers."

Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) has similarly called for a "J13" commission.