Staff Reports
The fallout from last Saturday’s botched assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump is far from over — and, believe it or not, this fiasco showcases the latest example of a broader systemic failure.
Trump, the clear favorite for the 2024 election, was nearly taken out by a witless assassin. One would think a building from which Thomas Matthew Crooks launched his amateurish attack would have the eyes of at least one alert officer — yet, alas, it did not. Secret Service personnel did notice Crooks behaving like he was starring in his own cloak-and-dagger thriller. Apparently, it theorized that strange behavior on rooftops is a norm in D.C. Even the most basic security protocols like a “post check” would have flagged this goon.
Fighting for her job: Secret Service director’s record faces growing scrutiny
| @TomRtweets https://t.co/7JHzZnyfwE
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 18, 2024
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, under pressure to resign, has instead spun an elaborate tale to cover the oversight. Her latest gem blames the lack of rooftop surveillance on the “sloped roof” of the offending building. Clearly, Cheatle must imagine the Secret Service too clumsy to handle anything beyond flat surfaces — that’s thinking ahead right there. The building was supposedly “secured from the inside,” which evidently means little when one can still scramble onto the roof unnoticed.
There are glaring faults with Cheatle’s assertion. First, even with internal security, the fact that Crooks had unfettered access to the roof screams failure. It’s Secret Service 101 to block potential sniper avenues. Second, a brave countersniper team managed to neutralize Crooks from another sloped roof — so perhaps Cheatle’s “safety factor” excuse holds no water.
To add some spice, the House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Cheatle to probe this debacle and her focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Critics argue that Cheatle’s DEI initiatives have come at the expense of the Secret Service’s primary mission, and a sceptical public is eager to see whether ideology is prioritised over practicality.
The Secret Service appears stretched too thin, bogged down by non-stop travel and relentless overtime. Cheatle’s “can do” approach has forced agents to perform Herculean tasks without necessary reinforcements. Protecting everyone from lower-tier officials who arguably don’t need constant protection to foreign dignitaries hardly seems doable with their current resources.
The Biden administration feted Cheatle, who’s no stranger to the political sphere. Before her directorial stint, she was a hardline agent on Biden’s vice-presidential detail, loved by the First Family. After a cushy three-year break as PepsiCo’s security czar, Joe Biden trusted her enough to bring her back to helm the Secret Service. However, her illustrious career trajectory seems to have focused more on bureaucratic approval than operational effectiveness.
The Secret Service has long been criticized as a glorified boys club, making Cheatle’s intentions commendable at first glance. However, her pursuit of diversity statistics instead of meaningful cultural shifts seems off-key. Before 2012, incidents of agents romping with prostitutes in foreign lands added to the agency’s woes rather than solving them. Cheatle’s insistence on fitting the Biden DEI agenda perfectly into the Secret Service’s operational plan reflects a checklist approach rather than improving operational efficacy.
Cheatle’s obsession with DEI comes with concerning implications. Questions loom about whether the agents being recruited are best for the job or merely the best for the DEI scoreboard. Cheatle’s goal to make 30% of recruits female by 2030 seems like another political move rather than a mission-driven necessity. The practical question remains: are standards being lowered to meet these targets, potentially compromising operational readiness?
Under Cheatle’s watch, the agency has experienced various security gaffes, from misplaced cocaine in the White House to a man drunkenly slipping into national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s residence without the agents noticing. A mental breakdown among Harris’s detail further highlights the strain and instability within the ranks.
While the Trump family maintains staunch support for the Secret Service, thanks to quick responses by more competent agents, the scrutiny from media and Congress is poised to turn particularly intense. The reality is that these pressures may reveal whether top brass decisions have skewed more towards ideological brownie points rather than actual mission success. Heaven forbid if ideology leads over common-sense operational mandates.
