ASPEN, Colorado — President Joe Biden’s top ally in the Senate says it’s too soon to oust the Secret Service director over the assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
Asked if Cheatle should step down, Sen. Chris Coons’ (D-Del.) said “I need and want more information” before making such a call, adding that a proper investigation into what happened needs to take place.
Coons’ comments come as top Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson — call for Kimberly Cheatle to be replaced.
Coons said Wednesday, while attending the Aspen Security Forum, that he wanted to know more about exactly what circumstances allowed a shooter to get close enough to fire a gun at the Republican candidate and former president. Trump’s ear was bloodied by the attempt on Saturday; a bystander was killed.
“Our national security and homeland security leadership is going to expect that information,” Coons said, referring to congressional leaders.
Still, Coons didn’t offer an absolute defense of Cheatle as he did not say that she should definitely stay on.
Coons was among senators briefed by Cheatle and other top security officials on Wednesday about the situation. He declined to go into depth about what was said but said he was glad the call took place.
“They provided a lot of very specific details about how they launched their investigations, the exact movements of the shooter, what happened on scene, how the investigation is unfolding so far,” Coons said.
He said that he recognized that reviews into such security lapses can often take a significant amount of time.
“It’s important that the American people get answers as soon as is reasonably possible as to how this happened,” he said. “We need to learn the right lessons from this critical national security incident.”
