WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today delivered opening remarks at the hearing on “Oversight of the U.S. Secret Service and the Attempted Assassination of President Donald J. Trump.” In his remarks, Chairman Comer emphasized today’s hearing is for the American people who are seeking answers about the attempted assassination of President Trump. Given the historic security failures leading up to and during the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Chairman Comer called on Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to resign in order to ensure accountability. Chairman Comer encouraged Americans of all political stripes to unite against extremism and political violence and concluded action must be taken to ensure this never happens again.
Below are Chairman Comer’s prepared remarks.
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Today’s hearing is for the American people who are seeking answers about the attempted assassination of President Trump.
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A little over a week ago, Americans watched in horror as a shooter attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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The gunman nearly succeeded. The bullet that struck President Trump’s head was less than an inch from taking his life.
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President Trump survived, but one rally-goer, Corey Compertore, tragically, did not. Two others were seriously injured.
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It was a horrifying moment in American history. The horror was exceeded only by the bravery of the law enforcement agents who threw themselves in harm’s way when shots were fired, the bravery of a crowd unwavering in its refusal to panic, and the bravery of a bloody President Trump refusing to run.
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While we give overwhelming thanks to the individual Secret Service agents who did their jobs under immense pressure, this tragedy was preventable.
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The Secret Service’s “Protective Mission” is to “protect[] U.S. and visiting world leaders” and “safeguard[] U.S. elections through protection of candidates and nominees.”
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The Secret Service has a zero fail mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally.
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The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but it has now become the face of incompetence.
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This Committee has a long track record of providing oversight of the Secret Service. Our predecessors, Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings among others, worked together to issue warnings and recommendations to address obvious shortcomings in the agency’s makeup and operations. Unfortunately, those warnings and recommendations have gone unheeded.
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A former President and current candidate for President was shot in the head by a sniper within 500 feet of the podium. This is unacceptable and we are concerned the Secret Service lacks the proper management to keep protectees safe from bad actors.
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Americans demand answers, but they have not been getting them from the Secret Service. We are instead learning about new facts about the events surrounding the attempted assassination every day from whistleblowers and leaks.
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Americans demand accountability, but no one has yet to be fired for this historic failure.
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Today’s witness—Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle—is here under subpoena to answer questions about how the agency failed President Trump and the victims who attended the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign.
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However—in complete defiance—Director Cheatle has maintained she will not tender her resignation. Therefore, she will answer questions today from Members of this Committee seeking to provide clarity to the American people about how these events were allowed to transpire.
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We will ask these questions because the Secret Service and its parent agency—the Department of Homeland Security— have been unwilling to provide answers to the American people.
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DHS has sought to push this hearing to a different time. Secret Service has suggested the hearing occur without media presence. And both agencies have provided only shallow explanations to Congress about what happened on July 13.
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Indeed, DHS and Secret Service’s lack of communication with the Oversight Committee required me to issue a subpoena compelling Director Cheatle to attend today, and still DHS requested more time to prepare.
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It shouldn’t take this much time or preparation, Director Cheatle, to tell the truth and to be transparent with the American people.
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I am thankful to the Ranking Member, Mr. Raskin, for joining me in insisting that Director Cheatle appear today.
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The Ranking Member and I disagree on many things. But that does not matter today.
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The safety of Secret Service protectees is not based on their political affiliation. And the bottom line is that under Director Cheatle’s leadership, we question whether anyone is safe. Not President Biden, not the First Lady, not the White House, not presidential candidates.
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The July 13th assassination attempt is one of the darkest days in American political history. It represents the ugliest parts of what American politics has become: hatred of each other and a dangerous turn to extremism.
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Before we are Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans. If we place our political affiliations above our duty and love of country, we cannot maintain a country.
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We must ensure our Republic is strong. And our Republic cannot be strong when our leadership, our elections, our institutions, and our candidates are threatened by extremism and violence.
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Today, Director Cheatle will answer questions about why she deserves to continue to play a critical role in preserving this country’s safety and, at the very least, what led to the catastrophic, deadly events on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania.
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I do not believe Director Cheatle deserves to maintain her position as head of the Secret Service, but Members and the American people will make their own decisions based on her answers today.
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I urge Director Cheatle to be transparent and forthcoming in her testimony today. Americans deserve no less.
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We have a duty to find out how this happened and ensure it never happens again.
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I yield to the Ranking Member for his opening remarks.