'You cut corners:' Rep. Jim Jordan hammers Secret Service director over Trump shooting

Ohio Reps. Jim Jordan and Mike Turner accused U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle of cutting corners instead of protecting former President Donald Trump from an assassination attempt.

A 20-year-old shooter attempted to assassinate Trump at a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One attendee, Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed and two others were left in critical condition.

“The assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13 is the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades,” said Cheatle, who is resisting bipartisan calls for her to resign.

Jim Jordan to Cheatle: 'You cut corners'

During a Monday hearing before the House Oversight Committee, Jordan, R-Urbana, hammered Cheatle about the Trump campaign’s repeated request for more security at events.

“You cut corners when it came to protecting one of the most important individuals, most well-known individuals on the planet, a former president, likely the guy that’s going to be the next president,” said Jordan.

Cheatle would not say how many times the Secret Service denied the Trump campaign’s requests for more security but said the campaign’s needs for the Butler rally were fulfilled. “The Secret Service is judicious with their resources,” she said.

“Maybe they got tired of asking,” Jordan suggested.

Rep. Mike Turner says President Joe Biden should fire director of the United States Secret Service

Turner, R-Dayton, questioned why Trump’s security wasn’t beefed up because of a credible threat from Iran. Trump ordered the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led Iran’s elite Qud’s Force.

“Is an Iranian assassin more capable than a 20-year-old?” Turner asked Cheatle. Turner said FBI Director Chris Wray briefed lawmakers on the shooting and that Wray was “shocked” that the threat from Iran was not “baked in” to the Secret Service plan for the rally.

Turner said President Joe Biden should fire Cheatle if she doesn’t resign. “Because Donald Trump is alive, and thank God he is, you look incompetent. If Donald Trump had been killed, you would have looked culpable,” Turner said.

Rep. Shontel Brown: 'You're not making this easy for us'

The Ohio Republicans weren't the only House Oversight and Accountability Committee members frustrated with the Secret Service's response. The committee's top Democrat, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin said the Secret Service had "stunning security failures" that day. He also called for a ban on the sale of the AR-15, the weapon used in the July 13 shooting.

Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Cleveland, asked Cheatle about the number of local police and Secret Security members assigned to the Trump rally, but the director wouldn’t provide them. “Those numbers that were requested were provided," Cheatle replied.

“You’re not making this easy for us,” Brown said.

Brown also emphasized the importance of attacking policies rather than personalities in politics. “It is deeply unfortunate that political violence has become far too common.”

USA Today contributed to this article.

Jessie Balmert is a political reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Donald Trump assassination attempt: Ohio reps hammer Secret Service