The Secret Service is facing heavy public scrutiny in the wake of the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Many observers are demanding to know how the shooter was able to situate himself within such close range of Trump, and officials within the Biden administration are also facing questions about the broader issue of the political climate that set the stage for the shocking act of violence.
The Secret Service is “compromised,” wrote journalist and author Chris Rufo at City Journal Monday.
“A surprising number of the Secret Service agents protecting the former president were women,” Rufo observed, linking to a post on X by journalist Sharyl Attkisson who posted a video of “the ladies” at work in the agency:
“These agents wear the typical Secret Service outfits—Kevlar vests pressing against white shirts; black blazers with gold pins; dark sunglasses—but to an impartial observer, they do not appear to have the same poise, confidence, and strength as the male agents around them,” Rufo noted. “The obvious question: Why so many female agents? The answer, unfortunately, is the same as in many other institutions: DEI.”
“The Secret Service has highlighted ‘diversity’ as a key priority,” Rufo pointed out, “and its director, Kimberly Cheatle, hired by President Biden in 2022, has pledged to increase dramatically the number of women in the ranks.”
Rufo posted on X a chart showing the Secret Service’s Mission and Vision priorities.
“This is insane: The Secret Service elevated ‘diversity’ to one of its top three ‘vision’ priorities in its 2023-2027 Strategic Plan,” Rufo observed. “This isn’t the Post Office. The Secret Service should be an elite institution whose sole criterion is excellence.”
“The problem with DEI is that it dictates decisions based not on performance or on the old virtues, such as honor, but on demographics and ideology,” Rufo explained. “Failure is easily dismissed and blame easily shifted.”
At the center of the scrutiny over the shooting is Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, 53, who is now facing a congressional probe into the security protocol leading up to the event.
During an appearance on the Today show Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, vowed a “full investigation of the tragedy” to “determine where there were lapses in security and anything else that the American people need to know and deserve to know.”
Cheatle was apparently recommended for her position by First Lady Jill Biden, according to sources who spoke to the New York Post for a piece published Monday.
Cheatle had previously served for 27 years in the Secret Service, starting in the Clinton administration, then left for three years to take a job as senior director of global security at PepsiCo.
The sources told The Post Cheatle was “well liked by the future first lady and her most senior aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal,” the outlet reported:
“Cheatle served on Dr. Biden’s second lady detail and Anthony pushed for her,” a Democratic insider told The Post. “Anthony has no national security or law enforcement experience. He should have no influence over the selection of the USSS director.”
“I heard at the time she was being considered for director that Anthony had pushed her forward as an option,” another well-placed source told The Post.
Bernal, whom some colleagues have claimed is prone to bullying and verbal sexual harassment, has been “widely regarded as rivaling even White House chief of staff Jeff Zients in terms of influence over administration decisions,” the report added.
“Anthony is obsessed with being DEI-compliant,” another source told The Post.
Mainstream media outlets chronicled the confusion over how the shooting could have occurred.
The shooter, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was “perched atop a nearby roof when some rallygoers pointed him out to local law enforcement, said two law enforcement officials,” the Associated Press (AP) observed Monday. “A local law enforcement officer climbed to the roof and found Crooks, who pointed the rifle at the officer. The officer retreated down the ladder, and the gunman quickly fired toward Trump, the officials said.”
Crooks killed an attendee at the rally and critically injured two others before being taken down.
AP added:
Questions abounded about how the gunman got so close in the first place. Kevin Rojek, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said “it is surprising” the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him.
A Monday CNN report observed a Secret Service spokesman said “the agency did not sweep the building where Crooks shot at Trump,” reportedly about 150 meters from where Trump stood at the podium during the rally, “but instead leaned on local law enforcement to conduct security at that location.”
The report continued:
The spokesman added that there was supposed to be local law enforcement posted in that area, but it is not clear where that post was supposed to be located. A source not directly involved but with knowledge of Secret Service operations described possible roaming posts, for example, as part of some operational plans.
…
The spokesman did not know at the time of CNN’s inquiry which local agency should have been responsible for the building.
Meanwhile, ABC News reported Monday that, according to two law enforcement officials, the building Crooks climbed “was the staging area for the local police tactical team that was watching over the crowd.”
“Sources previously told ABC News that the building had been swept, but investigators are trying to determine whether roof access had been properly locked down,” the report stated.
