Articles of impeachment filed against Secret Service director after House hearing

Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) announced that they filed articles of impeachment against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle following questioning on the House floor over the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Steube said he filed the article because of her “dereliction of duty” in failing to protect former President Trump from last week's attack.

“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,” Steube said in a statement. “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.”

For his part, Mace said, “Just filed a privileged motion to impeach Kim Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service. This will force a vote within the next 48 hours.”

Perjury allegations against Cheatle

Earlier, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) accused Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle of committing perjury and failing to adequately cooperate with members of the House Oversight Committee on a day when Democrats and Republicans conducted a fierce grilling of the top agency official following the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

According to Luna, all Secret Service proteges are sitting ducks thanks, in part, to Cheatle's leadership, who stated during her testimony that allowing the attack on former President Donald Trump was the agency's biggest mistake in decades.

According to communications, again from law enforcement that were in some of these group chats, they had reported that the Secret Service was made aware of a threat at around 5:59 p.m. as a part of the command, including Secret Service, aware of messages and requests about information about the suspect's location," Luna said before giving the floor to Cheatle to answer whether she had knowledge of the threat.

"Again, I think we’re conflating the difference between the term ‘threat’ and suspicious," the Secret Service director countered.

"But you guys did have knowledge at 5:59 p.m., according to those group chats, did you not, of a suspicious individual," Luna insisted.

"Okay," Cheatle said.

"In my opinion, according to some of the testimony today, I feel that you have perjured yourself in some instances, and so I’m going to ask for a full review of the transcripts by staff, and if you find that to be the case, I do ask that you bring perjury charges against the director," Luna said, referring to the commission's chairman, Republican James Comer.

Subsequently, the Republican representative sharply questioned Cheatle's work and called on her to resign.

"I will say this. It is very frustrating. And I've talked to my colleagues, and we've said it to your face that you have been up here basically stonewalling our ability to get the answers to the American people. And what I will also say is that every single member of Congress does not feel safe with you in charge. You have heard that. And I think that we are all sitting ducks with you and directing the Secret Service currently (...) But more importantly, it sends a message to our adversaries that we are not protected, and we are one of the strongest countries in the world. So, you have essentially made us a less safe country because of it. As a result of that, I'm asking you to formally step down."

More allegations of dishonesty

Prior to filing articles of impeachment, Congresswoman Mace chastised the Secret Service director for allegedly leaking her opening statement to the media.

"Would you say leaking your opening statement to Punchbowl News, Politico’s Playbook and Washington Post several hours before you sent it to this committee as being political? Yes or no?" Mace asked Cheatle.

When the Secret Service director defended herself, saying she had "no idea" about how the document was leaked, Mace attacked her, saying her excuse was "bullsh--."

The rep pursued an unseemly line of questioning with Cheatle.

"Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee, as we asked on July 15? Yes or no?" asked Mace.

"I would have to get back to you," Cheatle said.

"That is a no. You're full of s-- today. You're just being completely dishonest," said Mace, who later received a warning for inappropriate language inside the hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.

"You are being dishonest or lying. You're being dishonest here with this committee," the representative continued.

"These are important questions that the American people want answers to. And you're just, you're just dodging and talking around it in generalities. And we had to subpoena you to be here. And you won't even answer the questions. We have asked you repeatedly to answer our questions. This isn't hard. These are not hard questions."