Lauren Boebert wants the Secret Service director held 'accountable' for Trump's shooting

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado's 3rd Congressional District wants to hold U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle "accountable" for the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The Secret Service Accountability Act, introduced by Boebert on July 15, prohibits federal funds from being "obliged or expended" for Cheatle's salary. Boebert told the Chieftain that Cheatle's Secret Service failed at its primary job of keeping Trump safe on July 13 when the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee was shot at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

"My legislation is almost a forced resignation, or else, because (Cheatle) is not qualified to be the director of the Secret Service," Boebert told the Chieftain. "Eliminating her in this position would allow for someone who is more qualified to be in that position."

Cheatle has led the Secret Service as director since Sept. 17, 2022, according to her secretservice.gov profile. Prior to being appointed director, she served 27 years "with distinction" with the Secret Service before becoming PepsiCo's Senior Director in Global Security.

During the Pennsylvania rally, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired several bullets from a structure approximately 150 yards away from Trump, according to USA Today. Crooks shot Trump in the right ear, killed 50-year-old spectator Corey Comperatore, and injured two others before being killed by the Secret Service.

Cheatle told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that the shooting in Butler County was something that was "unacceptable" and "shouldn't happen again" during a July 15 interview. Cheatle also told Thomas that "the buck stops" with her and that she is responsible for ensuring the incident doesn't happen again, according to ABC News.

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Why Boebert believes Cheatle should be held accountable

Speaking with the Chieftain on July 16, Boebert criticized some of the statements made by Cheatle during the ABC News interview. The Republican congresswoman said the Secret Service director made "poor excuses" in stating that snipers were not placed on the structure Crooks shot from because of a sloped roof and that the structure was local law enforcement's responsibility.

Other concerns that Boebert raised included reports that law enforcement had contact with Crooks almost 30 minutes before the shooting and that rally attendees attempted to inform officers that Crooks was armed.

Boebert also has said that Cheatle's Secret Service has put "woke (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies" before the protection of U.S. leaders, according to a July 15 news release from the congresswoman's office. The Secret Service denounced claims that it was "blaming" local law enforcement in a July 15 statement of its own.

'Accountability Act' receives support from other House Republicans

If Cheatle were to resign from her position as Secret Service director, Boebert told the Chieftain she would withdraw her proposed Secret Service Accountability Act. However, the congresswoman said the Secret Service needs to be "held accountable" for what happened on July 13 regardless of who the director is.

"We still need accountability here," Boebert said. "I think we need to go even further and have a special, select committee on this. President Trump was nearly assassinated and to just let this be, not have accountability, and not have answers to the questions we're asking provided is unacceptable."

Boebert is one of the 47 representatives serving on the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Cheatle is scheduled to field questions from the committee about "security lapses" on July 22, according to USA Today.

"We understand the importance of the independent review announced by President Biden yesterday and will participate fully," Cheatle said in a statement published by the Secret Service on July 15. "We will also work with the appropriate Congressional committees on any oversight action."

The Secret Service Accountability Act is co-sponsored by eight other House Republicans, including Josh Breechen of Oklahoma, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Diane Harshbarger of Tennessee, Cory Mills of Florida, Barry Moore of Alabama, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, and Bill Posey of Florida.

"We are not in session right now, so there needs to be more face-to-face conversations with my colleagues in talking about this bill," Boebert said. "I think everyone's focus is getting answers to what happened."

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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Why Lauren Boebert wants to strip the Secret Service director's salary