Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has fired back at Senator Rand Paul’s claims that she provided false testimony to Congress regarding resource requests for Donald Trump’s July 13, 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an assassination attempt occurred.
The dispute centers on Paul’s assertion that Cheatle “did not tell the truth” when she told a House panel that the agency didn’t deny any requests for the Butler rally. In a statement released Sunday, July 13, responding to a Senate report, Cheatle maintained that resources were provided for the event.
Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, pointed to his committee’s findings that the Secret Service denied multiple requests for additional staff, assets, and resources to protect Trump during the presidential campaign. According to the committee’s 31-page report released Sunday, at least two specific requests were made for the Butler rally that were denied or left unfulfilled.
The Kentucky Republican appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” where he detailed his accusations against the former director. Paul indicated that the committee found at least four, possibly five occasions where requests were made, with the primary request coming from both Trump’s Secret Service detail and his campaign for counter-snipers.
In her Sunday statement, Cheatle said, “For the Butler rally, I actually did direct additional assets to be provided, particularly in the form of agency countersnipers.” The former director, who resigned following the assassination attempt, directly contradicted the Senate committee’s findings.
The assassination attempt occurred when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto a rooftop with a clear line of sight to the stage where Trump was speaking, approximately 157 yards away. Crooks fired eight shots with an AR-style rifle before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper. The attack killed one attendee, Corey Comperatore, wounded two others, and grazed Trump’s ear.
The Senate committee’s investigation, which included 17 interviews with Secret Service members and review of thousands of legal documents, identified what it called a “cascade of preventable failures.” The report noted that the Secret Service assigned an inexperienced operator to oversee operations despite acknowledging vulnerabilities at the venue.
Communication breakdowns emerged as a central issue in the committee’s findings. The report stated that the Secret Service’s lack of structured communication was likely the greatest contributor to the failures on July 13, 2024. Information about a suspicious person with a rangefinder reached a Secret Service security room agent approximately 25 minutes before the shooting, but this intelligence failed to reach Trump’s security detail in time to prevent him from taking the stage.
A separate Government Accountability Office report, commissioned by Senator Chuck Grassley, revealed that the Secret Service had received tips about the assassination threat at least 10 days before the incident but failed to relay this information to federal and local law enforcement personnel responsible for securing the event.
The committee’s report criticized the disciplinary actions taken following the assassination attempt, stating that the consequences imposed “do not reflect the severity of the situation.” Six Secret Service agents received suspensions ranging from 10 to 42 days without pay, with all personnel placed on restricted duty or into non-operational positions upon their return.
Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn defended the agency’s decision not to dismiss anyone after the security failure, telling CBS News that they would not “fire our way out of this” crisis. Quinn emphasized that the agency was focused on addressing root causes rather than terminating personnel.
Current Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who was part of Trump’s protective detail during the Butler rally, has implemented reforms following the incident. The agency reported that it has put in place 21 of 46 recommendations made by congressional oversight bodies, including streamlined communication procedures and clarification of advance team responsibilities.
The dispute between Paul and Cheatle highlights ongoing tensions over accountability for the security failures that allowed the assassination attempt to occur. Paul’s committee found that organizational mistakes included positioning one of the Secret Service countersniper teams with an obstructed view of the American Glass Research building where Crooks was located.
The committee concluded that not a single person has been fired despite the multiple failures that occurred on July 13, 2024. Paul contended that there was sufficient time to remove Trump from the stage based on the available information about the suspicious individual who ultimately carried out the attack.
