U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle expressed her support for an independent security review of last week’s assassination plot against former President Donald Trump.
“We are eager to cooperate with the independent security review of the U.S. Secret Service’s action related to the July 13 assassination attempt of former President Trump in Butler,” Cheatle wrote in a Sunday press release. “I look forward to the panel examining what happened and providing recommendations to help ensure it will never happen again.”
Cheatle wrote that the agency is “continuing to take steps to review [their] actions internally” and “remain[s] committed to working quickly and transparently with other investigations, including those by Congress, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.”
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United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle looks on during a press conference. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
“The U.S. Secret Service has a no-fail mission, and I will take every necessary step to ensure the safety and security of our protectees – that the U.S. Secret Service emerges from this stronger.”
The independent review will be composed of four people: former President George W. Bush’s Homeland security adviser Frances Townsend; former Bush administration federal judge Mark Filip; former Maryland State Police superintendent David Mitchell; and former DHS secretary Janet Napolitano.
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Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump being taken away by Secret Service after a bullet tore through the former President’s ear Butler, Pennsylvania. (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/AFP via Getty Images)
The group will have 45 days to review the policies and procedures of the Secret Service before and after the assassination attempt, carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that additional experts may be added to the panel in the coming days.
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DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the independent review of the agency’s actions on Sunday.
“All Americans share a concern about the safety of our public officials,” members of the panel said in a joint statement. “We formed this bipartisan group to quickly identify improvements the U.S. Secret Service can implement to enhance their work. We must all work together to ensure events like July 13 do not happen again.”
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Cheatle is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.