Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle struggled for answers with Congress on Monday, but she did rule out the role of women agents as a factor in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Several Republican lawmakers prodded Ms. Cheatle at a committee hearing about how a shorter woman could be expected to protect Mr. Trump, who the director said is over 6 feet tall.
But Ms. Cheatle said the personnel around Mr. Trump wasn’t at fault, nor are broader policies to promote women and minorities.
“The incident on the 13th has nothing to do with DEI. The incident on the 13th has to do with a failure or a gap either in planning or communication,” the director said.
Questions about women agents have swirled online after video of the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt showed one agent in Mr. Trump’s orbit struggling to re-holster her handgun and another who seemed focused on her sunglasses.
Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Republican, questioned the utility of having shorter agents among those assigned to Mr. Trump and wondered if height was part of the calculation the agency used when deciding whom to deploy to certain people.
“We’re not mad at you, but if somebody’s 7 feet tall and you’re 5 feet tall there’s going to be a delta there that’s problematic,” Mr. Perry said.
“I assign agents to work our protectees that are capable and have been trained,” said Ms. Cheatle, who spent 27 years as a Secret Service agent before retiring for the private sector then then being brought back to run the agency.
Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, said Ms. Cheatle’s answers indicated she didn’t belong in the role.
“You are a DEI horror story,” he said.
But Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas Democrat, said the bigger worry was that Secret Service agents missed spotting the shooter as a threat because he was a White man.
“It seems as if there’s a different analysis that takes place,” she said. “As a civil rights lawyer, I have learned so many times … that there usually is not a perception of a threat when it is a young White male even if they are carrying a long gun.”
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• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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