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GOP senators confront Secret Service chief at RNC over Trump shooting: ‘You owe the people answers!’

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From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

Four Republican senators chased down Kimberly Cheatle and demanded: ‘Resignation or full explanation to us right now!’

GOP senators chased after Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle on Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention, demanding answers concerning her agency’s epic failure to protect former president Donald Trump and others during Saturday’s assassination attempt when one man died.

“This was an assassination attempt!” shouted Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, running after the unresponsive Cheatle as she and her entourage sought to escape the Republican lawmakers’ questions. “You owe the people answers! You owe President Trump answers!”

Resignation or full explanation right now

In what began as a scrum in a luxury suite at the convention arena where the Secret Service head was taking in the festivities, Sen. Blackburn, along with Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, cornered the clearly uncomfortable, stone-faced Cheatle.

“We’re very disappointed in your leadership” Barrasso began before demanding that she start answering questions “right now about the death threats to President Trump and allowing him to go on stage … and put him within less than an inch of his life.”

“So, resignation or full explanation to us right now!” insisted the Wyoming senator, who serves as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.

“You knew an hour out” about the potential threat, Blackburn added.

“I don’t think this is the forum to have this discussion,” said Cheatle, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere else on the planet. As she excused herself from the conversation and began to scamper away, the Senators objected, saying, “No! No! … we’re going with you!” and took off after her.

While in hot pursuit of Cheatle, Barrasso can be heard accusing her, “No shame! No concern! You’re supposed to be protecting the President of the United States.”

“You owe the people answers. You owe President Trump answers,” Blackburn said as Cheatle turned and scurried up an escalator.

“You cannot run away from your responsibility to the people of the United States,” a now even more emphatic Barrasso yelled. “You’re the head of the Secret Service. You owe answers to the Senate, to the House, to the President, to the past President.”

Cheatle and her crew then quickly vanished into a room. The GOP lawmakers were barred from entering by a Secret Service agent.

In a subsequent video posted to X, Barrasso explained, “Senator Blackburn and I just went face to face with the director of the Secret Service, asking for specific answers about what happened with President Trump in Pennsylvania and how that shooter was able to get off a clear shot when the FBI and Secret Service knew that there was a suspicious person an hour in advance of when the shooting occurred.”

“She would not answer our questions,” said Blackburn, adding, “She can run, but she cannot hide because the American people want to know how an assassination attempt was carried out on former President Donald Trump.”

 

A spokesperson for the Secret Service later said that Cheatle has no intention of resigning as head of the agency.

“She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews,” the spokesperson said.

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Again? Golf course perimeter not secure because Trump not ‘sitting president’

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Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach | Facebook

From The Center Square

By ​

The perimeter around the Florida golf course where a gunman with an AK-47 style rifle was perched while former President Donald Trump played nearby was not secure because Trump isn’t the sitting president, authorities said.

The FBI is investigating the incident as the second assassination attempt on Trump’s life since July. The suspect is in custody.

During a news conference after the gunman was spotted pointing the nuzzle of the rifle through a chain-link fence toward the course, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the suspect was able to get within 300 to 500 yards of Trump because the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee doesn’t get the same level of security as a sitting president.

“Well, you got to understand, the golf course is surrounded by shrubbery, so when somebody gets into the shrubbery, they’re pretty much out of sight, all right,” Bradshaw said after a question about how the gunman could get so close. “And at this level that he is at right now, he’s not the sitting president. If he was, we would have [the area around the] golf course surrounded. But because he’s not, security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible. So I would imagine that the next time he comes at a golf course, there’ll probably be a little bit more people around the perimeter. But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done. They provided exactly what the protection should have been, and their agent did a fantastic job.”

Sunday’s incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention. The suspect in the earlier assassination attempt was shot ad killed at the scene.

The Secret Service was widely criticized for its lax security efforts after the Pennsylvania attempt. Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned under heavy pressure.

Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at [email protected].

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FBI: Trump was playing golf when shots rang out. 2nd assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life thwarted

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From The Center Square

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Trump was playing golf at his club when shots rang out

U.S. Secret Service agents shot at and later arrested a man with an AK-47 rifle near Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club Sunday afternoon while Trump was on the course. The FBI said it is investigating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president, the second in two months.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference that the Secret Service alerted local authorities that shots were fired about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. A Secret Service agent who was monitoring the course a hole ahead of Trump noticed a man with a rifle pointing the barrel through a chain-link fence near shrubbery that surrounds the course, Bradshaw said. The agent fired on the alleged gunman, who was approximately 300 to 500 yards away from the former president. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was rushed back to the clubhouse in a golf cart and was unharmed.

A witness told authorities he saw the gunman running from the scene to a car, and was able to get the car’s license plate, Bradshaw said. Agents were able to track the vehicle and arrested the suspect, Bradshaw said. He remains in custody. No other details were released about the suspect.

“Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan, and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tank,’ which was great,” the sheriff said. “So we had that information, … put it out to the license plate readers, and we were able to get a hit on that vehicle on I-95 as it was headed into Martin County. We got a hold of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, alerted them, and they spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy.”

Authorities found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the gunman was hiding.

“The FBI has assumed the role as the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident that occurred earlier today at Trump International Golf course here in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami field office, said at the news conference. “We’ve deployed a number of resources, including investigative teams, crisis response team members, bomb technicians and evidence response team members as well.”

Trump told Fox News that he was on the 5th hole when he heard gunshots.

“Tell everybody I am fine and the Secret Service did a great job,” Trump told Fox News.

TCS: Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach
Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Fla.

The West Palm Beach golf club is less than five miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Bradshaw said that if Trump were a sitting president, there would have been more security around the perimeter of the golf course

Sunday’s incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention. The suspect in the earlier assassination attempt was shot and killed at the scene.

The Secret Service was widely criticized for its lax security efforts after the Pennsylvania attempt. Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned under heavy pressure.

This is a developing story.

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