Hearing Highlights: Secret Service Chief Pummeled by Lawmakers Who Called for Her Resignation

Ms. Cheatle, appearing before the committee for more than four hours, called the shooting at the Trump rally in Butler, Pa., her agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades. But she cited the continuing investigation when declining to answer queries about the would-be assassin’s access to the warehouse roof from which he fired, how he had managed to bring a firearm to the event, why Mr. Trump was allowed to come onstage despite warnings about a suspicious person and many other details.

Ms. Cheatle did reveal that she had expressed remorse to Mr. Trump. Asked by Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, whether she had apologized to the former president directly, Ms. Cheatle answered that she had.

A spectator at the rally was killed, and the former president and two attendees were injured in the July 13 shooting. In the days since, congressional committees have been investigating missteps by law enforcement before, during and after the attack.

“Because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent,” said Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio, calling for President Biden to fire Ms. Cheatle if she did not resign. “If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable.”

Here’s what else to know:

• Pressure to resign: Mr. Raskin and Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, joined many of their Republican colleagues in pushing for Ms. Cheatle to step down, while Mr. Comer said her agency had become the “face of incompetence.” Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies, accused the Secret Service of “cutting corners.”

• Rebuffed requests: The Secret Service acknowledged on Saturday that it had turned down requests for additional federal resources sought by Mr. Trump’s security detail in the two years leading up to the attempted assassination. “For the event in Butler, there were no requests that were denied,” Ms. Cheatle told Congress.

• Breakdown in protection: The Secret Service faces questions over why the warehouse used by the shooter to fire at Mr. Trump was not included in the security perimeter zone. Also unclear is why the agency did not assign more local law enforcement officers to work outside the perimeter.

• Homeland Security review: The homeland security secretary, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, announced on Sunday members of a panel that will conduct an independent 45-day review of the security breakdown at the Trump rally. The Secret Service is a part of the department. President Biden had called for an independent investigation.

Representative Russell Fry, Republican of South Carolina, asked the Secret Service director when law enforcement changed from considering Crooks a suspicious figure to seeing him as a threat. Cheatle said this change came “seconds before the gunfire started.”

Fry seemed relieved to get a response: “My gosh! We actually had a few questions we got answered today.”

Many lawmakers, from both sides of the aisle, have been frustrated by the lack of details from Cheatle.

The following are some of the questions Ms. Cheatle was asked repeatedly that she did not answer:

Why did the Secret Service not station an agent on the warehouse roof that the gunman used as a sniper’s perch?

Ms. Cheatle was pressed repeatedly on this point. Her most detailed answer was in response to a question from Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky. Ms. Cheatle seemed to indicate that the Secret Service had left the rooftop unmanned on purpose, because, she said, the agency preferred “sterile” — presumably meaning empty — rooftops. Instead, she said, the warehouse rooftop was to receive “overwatch” — meaning law enforcement officers were supposed to watch that rooftop from another, higher perch.

“There was a plan in place to provide overwatch, and we are still looking into responsibilities, and who was going to provide overwatch,” Ms. Cheatle said.

How many Secret Service agents were assigned to protect President Trump in Butler, Pa.?

“I don’t have a specific person to identify for you,” Ms. Cheatle told Rep. Stephen Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts.

Later, Rep. Michael Cloud, Republican of Texas, pressed Ms. Cheatle to say whether a Secret Service official had given final approval to the security plan for Mr. Trump’s rally. When Mr. Cloud pressed Ms. Cheatle to identify who had final sign-off, Ms. Cheatle said, “It’s a conjunction of personnel.”

In follow-up questions, she said she would not specify further during the hearing.

Why did the Secret Service allow former President Trump to take the stage, despite people in the crowd pointing out a gunman on the warehouse roof?

“If the detail had been passed information that there was a threat, the detail would never have brought the former president out onto stage,” Ms. Cheatle said.

She said that the Secret Service agents around the president had been aware of a suspicious person, but not a threat. “We are currently still combing through communications, and when communications were passed,” Ms. Cheatle said. She indicated to Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois, that the Secret Service had not considered either pausing the rally or removing Mr. Trump from the stage before the shots were fired.

How did Mr. Crooks get his rifle up onto the warehouse roof? Did he leave it there before the rally?

“I do not have that information at this time,” Ms. Cheatle said.

Rep. Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, responded with the same frustration as other members of Congress.

“You should have come today ready to give us answers. I call upon you to resign today. Today!” Mr. Biggs told Ms. Cheatle.

What additional security steps did the Secret Service take after the U.S. learned about a potential Iranian plot to kill Mr. Trump?

Ms. Cheatle acknowledged that she had been aware of the Iranian threat to the former president, and that she had reviewed the intelligence behind it. But she did not reveal what security measures the Secret Service had put in place to counter the Iranian threat.

During the hearing, Rep. Michael R. Turner of Ohio, who chairs the House intelligence committee, said that the Secret Service had not included the warnings about Iran in its threat assessment for the Butler rally.

The Iranian threat stemmed from Tehran’s desire to avenge the strike ordered by Mr. Trump in January 2020 that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian security and intelligence commander responsible for the killing of American troops in Iraq. Mr. Turner claimed that Christopher A. Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was shocked that the Iranian information was not part of the Security Service threat assessment.

Ms. Cheatle said she thought the security in place at Butler was sufficient to deal with the Iranian threat.

“Is an Iranian assassin more capable than a 20-year-old?” Mr. Turner asked, seemingly sarcastically.

Cheatle’s comments in a TV interview that a “sloped roof” played a role in the Secret Service’s decision not to place someone on the roof where the gunman opened fire have come under intense scrutiny at this hearing.

Representative Pat Fallon, Republican of Texas, asked Cheatle if there was a written policy on sloped roofs that she could share with the committee. Cheatle said “no.”

Lawmakers are frustrated with a lack of answers to questions. Cheatle says she expects to have better answers within 60 days.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, says a 60-day timeline for answers is not acceptable for the public.