The embattled director of the US Secret Service last Tuesday announced her resignation, saying in an email to staff that she took “full responsibility” for the security lapses that allowed a gunman to nearly assassinate Republican nominee Donald Trump on July 13.
Cheatle, who long maintained that she had no intention of stepping down over the attempted assassination, just one day before her resignation, faced blistering questioning from lawmakers when she appeared before the House Oversight Committee.
Committee members from both sides of the aisle grilled Cheatle over the security failures at the Butler rally and called on her to step down.
Following Cheatle’s resignation, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas named Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe to serve as acting director until President Biden names Cheatle’s successor.
It is unlikely that Cheatle’s resignation will put an end to the scrutiny over the security failures at the July 13 rally.
The Department of Homeland Security revealed last weekend that Secretary Mayorkas had named some of the individuals who would take part in the independent bipartisan probe ordered by President Biden in his Oval Office address on July 14.
According to a July 21 DHS press release, the members selected for the panel have “extensive law enforcement and security experience” and would “conduct a 45-day independent review” into the planning and actions of the Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies “before, during, and after the rally.”
So far, Secretary Mayorkas has named former Clinton Attorney General Janet Napolitano, former Homeland Security advisor for President George W. Bush Frances Townsend, former Bush deputy attorney general Mark Filip, and former Delaware Homeland Security Secretary David Mitchell.
Additional members could also be appointed to the panel “in the coming days,” the press release said.
Cheatle said in a statement following DHS’ announcement that she supported the panel’s investigation and hoped that its recommendations would ensure that “it will never happen again.”