Who is Kimberly Cheatle? Meet under-fire Secret Service Director who is facing scrutiny after Donald Trump assassination attempt

Serious questions are being asked about the Secret Service’s handling of the Pennsylvania rally where former President Donald Trump was nearly shot dead.

Trump was shot in the ear about 10 minutes after taking the stage near Butler, in the southwestern part of the state, on Saturday.

The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service sniper after firing multiple shots into attendees of the rally, wounding two more people and killing one.

But the whole situation could have been avoided. For example, an eyewitness said he alerted police after seeing a man with a gun crawling across a nearby roof.

The director of the 159-year-old agency, Kimberly Cheatle, has already been summoned to appear before the House Oversight Committee for questioning about her agency’s handling of the Butler shooting.

Cheatle’s 2022 nomination was already controversial, and the former president’s near-death has only heightened fears that she may be the wrong woman for the job.

But who is Kimberly Cheatle? MailOnline takes a look at the current director of the Secret Service.

Early career

Cheatle joined the Secret Service in 1995 and worked her way up to the highest officer ranks, protecting political leaders during some of the most important moments in modern American history.

She was involved in the evacuation of former Vice President Dick Cheney during the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The law enforcement official completed the agency’s senior executive service program and eventually went on to serve as deputy assistant director for the agency’s Office of Training.

There she “revolutionized the way Secret Service training was delivered by implementing a regional, in-service training program,” according to Safety magazine.

She was then tasked with overseeing Joe Biden’s security when he was vice president during the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017.

After her time with Biden, she was named assistant director of Protective Operations, a nearly $134 million department focused on “the research, development, and implementation of technologies that reduce risks to protected individuals, protected facilities, and protected events,” according to the Secret Service Website.

After more than two decades with the Secret Service, she moved to PepsiCo to serve as senior director of global security, where she was responsible for developing security protocols for the multinational’s North American facilities.

She said of her time there, “I like having a variety of assignments and multiple things on my plate. I thrive on chaos.”

While at PepsiCo, she received a Presidential Rank Award from Joe Biden for “exceptional performance.”

Current service

Biden named her service to his security detail when he appointed her to head the service in late 2022. She is only the second woman to lead the Secret Service in its entire history.

He said at the time, “Jill and I know firsthand how dedicated Kim is to her job and to the people and mission of the Secret Service.

“When Kim worked on my security team when I was vice president, we came to rely on her judgment and advice.

“She is a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills. She was without question the best choice to lead the agency at a critical time for the Secret Service.”

“I trust her completely and I look forward to working with her.”

Cheatle took over the agency at a time when it was rocked by multiple scandals involving missing text messages to and from agents. On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Capitol was stormed by violent anti-Biden protesters.

The agency’s umbrella organization, the Department of Homeland Security, has been accused of failing to cooperate with House committees investigating the attack.

In addition, there have been multiple cases of drunken behavior and deals with sex workers by military personnel during and prior to foreign travel in the past decade, as well as failures to prevent fence-jumping on the White House grounds.

One particularly embarrassing moment came when a couple secretly crashed a state banquet at the White House in 2009.

The couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi from Virginia, sneaked into the reception line in the Blue Room as Barack and Michelle Obama greeted the 400 guests.

The couple was seen next to the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh.

What’s in store for Cheatle now?

This past weekend, all the Secret Service failures of the past decade were thrust back into the spotlight. As head of the service, Cheatle is under intense scrutiny.

The agency was forced to deny a claim by Florida Rep. Mike Waltz that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly rejected requests to increase Secret Service protection.

Anthony Guglielmi, director of communications for the Secret Service, said on X: “There is a false allegation that a member of the former president’s team requested additional security resources and was turned down. This is absolutely false.

“We’ve essentially added protective equipment, technology and capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel pace.”

Despite this, Cheatle is expected to be held accountable for alleged shortcomings in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

She will appear before the House Oversight Committee for a hearing on July 22.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with X on Sunday: “The House will conduct a full investigation into the tragic events.

“The American people deserve to know the truth. We will bring Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle and other relevant officials from DHS and the FBI to a hearing before our committees as soon as possible.”