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In the wake of the assassination of Donald Trump, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for Secret Service Director Kimberly Chittel to step down.
The request came during and after a tense House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday, which questioned Ms. Chittel about her agency’s security preparations ahead of the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that led to Mr. Trump’s assassination.
The shooting left one person dead and three injured, including the former president.
Monday’s hearing was a painful experience for Ms. Chittel as lawmakers mocked her answers and the agency’s lack of public information, but it was also a rare show of bipartisanship on an increasingly polarized Capitol Hill.
For nearly six hours, members tried to answer many questions about the shooting, including how the suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, climbed onto a nearby rooftop and why Trump was allowed on stage after someone reported seeing a suspicious person.
After the hearing, the top Republican and top Democrat on the committee — Representatives James Cuomo and Jamie Raskin — sent a letter to Ms. Chittle making clear their view that she should resign.
“During a presidential election, the Commission and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency, but you have failed to deliver,” the letter reads. “We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allow new leadership to quickly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a Congress and the American people who truly care.”
While Ms. Chittle took responsibility for the security lapses during the hearing and acknowledged that the Butler incident was “the worst operational blunder the Secret Service has seen in decades,” her actions disappointed many lawmakers.
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