WASHINGTON—U.S. Secret Service head Kim Cheatle has resigned in the light of shocking details that have emerged in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump July 13 that wounded the former President.
A stunning timeline of law enforcement awareness of the shooter’s activity, cell phone data linking apparent shooter Matthew Crooks to Washington, missing Secret Service communications records, and uproar in Congress: was the attempt on the former President’s life coordinated with other entities?
The Story
A cavalcade of security failures, missing communications channels recordings, and a parade of demurals and silence from Secret Service head Kim Cheatle before Congressional leaders have led to serious suspicions about the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life.
Cheatle was set to be impeached in special proceedings after an uproar in Congress that saw multiple Congressional leaders traveling to the site of the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting to see the site for themselves.
WATCH us introduce a privileged motion to impeach Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle. The House has NEVER voted on an impeachment of an inferior civil officer ... but historic times call for historic measures. pic.twitter.com/sRxXJkgsBo
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) July 23, 2024
Known shooter, missing communications, and suspicious mobile data
Cheatle resigned after the uproar, but Congressional testimony and independent investigations were so damning that the case is far from closed. Incompetence in Secret Service detail that day rose to the surface as an apparent explanation for the shooting.
But the length of time the shooter was known to officials, the chain of events that saw bystanders and local law enforcement trying to warn Secret Service officials, and questions on the floor of the Senate about a second shooter have blown the day’s events wide open.
BREAKING: Sen. Ron Johnson says he has “seen evidence that there may have been two sh**ters” during Trump’s assassination attempt.
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) July 21, 2024
"We can’t trust the FBI and Secret Service to do an honest and open investigation.”
Thomas Comperatore, a firefighter standing behind Trump was killed, and two others were wounded. The apparent shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot on a nearby rooftop within minutes of the assassination attempt, despite being seen an hour before, despite being observed with a rangefinder and ladder, and despite lining up a shot from the building’s roof for several minutes before shots rang out.
Whether substantial evidence of other shooters can be confirmed, Crooks has been labeled the apparent culprit. His lack of social media presence, low-profile, and unclear motive have made him an enigmatic suspect.
Independent investigation has now complicated the layers of involvement Crooks may have had with others.
Mobile Data
An independent investigation by The Oversight Project analyzed mobile data associated with Crooks’ residence and cell phones that visited his home and workplace.
BREAKING: An individual who regularly visited Thomas Crooks’ home and work also visited a building in Washington, DC, located in the same vicinity of an FBI office in June 2023
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) July 22, 2024
via @OversightPR pic.twitter.com/oMjIPSiijc
They found device data linked with his home and workplace, but remarkably, one mobile device associated with multiple visits to Crooks’ home, and a building near FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Someone who regularly visited Crooks home and work also visited a building in Washington, DC located in Gallery Place.
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) July 22, 2024
This is in the same vicinity of an @FBI office on June 26, 2023.
Who’s device is this? pic.twitter.com/b9ZIO5utDC
The highly suspicious activity, coupled with the glaring failures on the part of law enforcement at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally have elevated the apparent questions of incompetence to questions of complicity.
Was the assassination attempt on Trump coordinated with other entities? Who are they, and what interests might they represent?
National Stakes
And, within days of the failed assassination attempt, a soft-transfer of power has taken place in the Oval Office, with President Biden seemingly giving up his Presidential contest Sunday afternoon via a screenshot of a letter posted to the President’s social media account. The cessation of Biden’s campaign came after a weeks-long media push to oust him.
Vice President Kamala Harris stands to benefit, as she has emerged as the apparent successor to gather enough delegates for the Democratic nomination. Whomever is nominated at the DNC later this summer will remarkably have had no input from primary voters.
The return of major ructions and power-grabs to American politics shows high stakes for Democrats, but also the stakes are high for the country.
Assassination attempts, weaponized incompetence in government agencies, and factions vying for party nominations and the White House shows American politics in a new, harsher light. Americans will have to decide, at the ballot box, on the path to stability for the nation.
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