WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – GOP Lawmakers confronted the Director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, at the Republican National Convention about the security lapses that led to the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.
Video, posted online by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) shows those lawmakers running after Cheatle as she walks through the arena.
“We followed her through a mezzanine, up some stairs. The pace kept getting faster and faster,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “We’re trying to get answers out of her while she’s fleeing.”
Senate and House members had phone briefings with several law enforcement officials on Wednesday.
“It was ridiculous,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “We didn’t learn anything.”
According to lawmakers who were on the call, the Secret Service said it identified the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a threat, nearly an hour before the shooting.
Forty minutes before the shooting, they saw him looking through a rangefinder. Around 5:53, about 20 minutes before the shooting, they saw him looking through the rangefinder again, according to those lawmakers.
“They still let him take the stage, knowing there was a threat,” Cramer said. “It’s mind boggling to me.”
Republican lawmakers have called on Cheatle to resign over what they call a lack of transparency. Cheatle said she has no intention of resigning.
The Secret Service director is set to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.
