Rep. Steube Moves to Impeach Secret Service Chief

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., filed articles of impeachment Monday against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for "enabling" the assassination attempt on Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Steube filed the resolution on the same day that Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee and steadfastly refused to resign despite calls for her to do so from both sides of the aisle.

"The Secret Service calls themselves 'one of the most elite law enforcement agencies in the world.' What happened under their watch in Butler, Pennsylvania was an international embarrassment and an inexcusable tragedy," Steube said in a press release.

"Particularly after her abysmal testimony today before the Oversight Committee, where little to no questions were properly answered and she doubled down on her refusal to resign, we have no choice but to impeach Director Cheatle," Steube added.

At issue is how a 20-year-old was able to perch himself on a building roof roughly 130 yards from where Trump was speaking in Butler, Pennsylvania. Thomas Matthew Crooks grazed Trump, killed a rallygoer, and injured two others before being shot dead by counter snipers.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Monday that whistleblowers reported a Secret Service agent "abandoned his or her post" atop the roof used by the shooter "due to the hot weather."

In his resolution, Steube asserted that Cheatle has placed "diversity hiring quotas" over the focus of "providing the best protection services possible."

"Through these actions, Director Cheatle has demonstrated a neglect for her duty to lead the Secret Service in a manner that provides effective protection to protectees, including President Donald Trump. Wherefore, Kimberly A. Cheatle, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States," the resolution concluded.

In addition to Steube's resolution, Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., sent a joint, four-sentence letter to Cheatle calling for her resignation in the aftermath of her testimony.

"Today, you failed to provide answers to basic questions regarding that stunning operational failure and to reassure the American people that the Secret Service has learned its lessons and begun to correct its systemic blunders and failures. In the middle of a presidential election, the Committee and the American people demand serious institutional accountability and transparency that you are not providing," the pair wrote in a rare instance of solidarity.

"We call on you to resign as Director as a first step to allowing new leadership to swiftly address this crisis and rebuild the trust of a truly concerned Congress and the American people."