Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Tuesday that while he's "glad" that Kimberly Cheatle is now the former director of the Secret Service, her legacy took a hit by not resigning immediately in the name of duty and honor.
In fact, Crenshaw, himself a former Navy SEAL, now questions Cheatle's 27 years in the Secret Service based on how she comported herself in the days after the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life leading up to her appearance before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
"The fact is, is that as a sense of duty, as a sense of honor, her immediate reaction should have been, 'I need to resign.' … And her legacy beyond that would have been intact," Crenshaw said on "The Chris Salcedo Show." "Instead, she fought it, did a terrible job trying to explain away those actions. Said she took full responsibility but that's really not the impression we got, based on that hearing."
Crenshaw remains mystified by Cheatle's "tactical credibility."
"And she talked about not putting snipers on a sloped roof, which is, of course, nonsense. I mean, they had snipers on another sloped roof. … So that really removed a lot of her tactical credibility," Crenshaw told Salcedo.
"And it makes me question her 27 years as a Secret Service agent."
As for the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, Crenshaw called it a "huge planning failure" on behalf of the Secret Service and its erstwhile director.
"So you've got a building about 150 meters from the president. … [I]t's actually a complex of buildings. And there's a decision made to put around ... four police officers in that building complex. That's not enough," Crenshaw said. "That's not enough to secure what should be considered a very threatening location. Huge failure. And that's a leadership failure.
"And I think, you know, the problem with the director, and she should have resigned, glad she resigned, is that she didn't really tackle that problem or explain their actions very well."
Crenshaw added that when Cheatle didn't resign right away, she should have been fired. But this is an administration with a lot of bureaucrats who should be fired, he said.
"I'm glad she resigned, but frankly, she should have been fired, just like Alejandro Mayorkas should be fired for not being able to secure the border. There's a number of government officials that should be fired for not doing their job," he said.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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