Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube announced Monday afternoon that he filed articles of impeachment against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The Congressman tweeted that he was moved to do so after “Cheatle’s unacceptable handling of the Trump assassination attempt, her disastrous appearance before the House Oversight committee today, and her refusal to resign.” (RELATED: ‘Major Problem’: Dems Admit The Border Isn’t Secure, But Will Vote To Dismiss Mayorkas Impeachment Anyway)
In light of Kimberly Cheatle’s unacceptable handling of the Trump assassination attempt, her disastrous appearance before the House Oversight committee today, and her refusal to resign, we have no choice but to impeach.
I will be filing articles of impeachment against Kimberly…
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) July 22, 2024
“The Secret Service calls themselves ‘one of the most elite law enforcement agencies in the world.’ What happened under their watch in Butler, Pennsylvania was an international embarrassment and an inexcusable tragedy,” Rep. Stuebe said in a press release. “Today I’m exercising our Congressional authority of oversight by filing an article of impeachment against Director Cheatle for her dereliction of duty as it relates to the assassination attempt on President Trump’s life. As she said herself in a recent interview, the ‘buck stops with me.'”
“Particularly after her abysmal testimony today before the Oversight Committee, where little to no questions were properly answered and she doubled down on her refusal to resign, we have no choice but to impeach Director Cheatle,” Steube continued.
The articles of impeachment charged Cheatle with dereliction of duty over the July 13 assassination attempt. Stuebe noted in the articles of impeachment that the Secret Service was tasked with protecting “major presidential candidates” as well as “former presidents.” The articles point out that the service allowed the shooter “to access the roof of a building approximately 130 yards away” of Trump and that the shooter managed to fire “multiple rounds” at the former president. Cheatle was noted in the document as saying that “the buck stops with” her and that the roof was unsecured because it was sloped.
The articles referenced multiple reports that the “Secret Service leadership” rejected attempts to increase Trump’s security for “the past two years.” The Washington Post reported Saturday that this had taken place.
“It’s just true — we don’t have the resources to secure him [Trump] like we did when he was president,” an official told the Post.
“I hate to dumb it down this much but it is a simple case of supply and demand. The requests get turned down routinely,” former Secret Service agent Bill Gage reportedly said. “A director has to finally come forward to say we are way understaffed and we cannot possibly continue with this zero fail mission without a significantly bigger budget.”
The articles further alleged that Chealte was more focused on enacting a gender quota within the Secret Service than with providing quality protection.
“Through these actions, Director Chealte has demonstrated a neglect for her duty to lead the Secret Service in a manner that provides effective protection to protectees, including President Donald Trump,” the impeachment document read.
