WASHINGTON — House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer has issued a subpoena to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, requiring her to appear before the committee on Monday, the first congressional hearing related to the assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Comer said the Secret Service initially promised Cheatle would attend, but officials at the Department of Homeland Security appear to have intervened and there have been “no significant updates or information” shared with the committee.
Comer said the “lack of transparency and cooperation” with the commission calls into question Cheatle’s ability to lead the Secret Service and makes a subpoena necessary.
Cheatle has said the agency understands the importance of the investigation ordered by Joe Biden and would fully participate in it, as well as cooperate with congressional committees investigating the attack.
“The attempted assassination of the former President and current Republican presidential candidate represents a complete failure of the agency’s core mission and calls for congressional accountability,” Comer wrote in a letter to Cheatle.
The summons was just one of a series of developments that occurred on Wednesday following Saturday’s attempted murder.
Investigation into Trump attack
Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would create a task force to investigate the security failures that led to the attack. He also said he would ask Cheatle to resign as head of the Secret Service, telling Fox News that “I think she’s shown what her priorities are,” without elaborating.
Johnson said the task force would be made up of Republicans and Democrats and that its formation would speed up the investigative process.
“(That task force) will not face as many hurdles, and it will also have the authority to issue subpoenas,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he has not received satisfactory responses from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or FBI officials.
“We must demand accountability. It is inexcusable,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there were clear security failures. You don’t have to be a special operations expert to understand that. And we are going to get to the bottom of it quickly.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the subpoena.
The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general also said Wednesday that an investigation has been opened into the Secret Service’s handling of Trump’s security on the day of the attack at his Pennsylvania rally.
In a brief statement posted on the inspector general’s website, the Department of Homeland Security said the purpose of the investigation is “to evaluate the procedures followed by the United States Secret Service to ensure the security of former President Trump’s campaign event on July 13, 2024.”
Since the assassination attempt, Cheatle and the Secret Service have been under intense scrutiny over how the gunman was able to position himself to shoot the former president.
Source: With information from AP.