WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert joined members from both sides of the aisle Monday in questioning Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on the agency’s failure to prevent an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a July 13 rally.
The hearing, which lasted more than four hours, was characterized by varying rounds of heated questions and stoic concern about the agency’s handling of the rally. Though Cheatle took “full responsibility” for the attack, lawmakers repeatedly shared their frustrations as she dodged questions and cited the continuing FBI investigation into the attack.
Boebert was among them, using her time to call on Cheatle to resign, as others have done, including Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
Despite their badgering, Cheatle gave no indication she plans to step down, saying she believes she is “the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.”
As Boebert began her five minutes with Cheatle, her stern questioning pointed to some of Cheatle’s previous answers, or lack thereof.
Cheatle acknowledged the gunman had been pointed out to the Secret Service two to five times prior to the first rounds being fired. Boebert asked if agents at the rally had located the shooter before he began firing the shots, to which Cheatle said she was unaware of any agents making contact with him.
Cheatle’s answer also drew on previous conversation during the hearing about what constituted a threat rather than just a suspicious person. She explained that the agency identifies suspicious persons somewhat frequently and does not pause events for them until agents confirm a threat.
The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been seen walking around with a range finder, a small device used to gauge distances, and had been identified as a suspicious person, but was not deemed a threat until moments before he began firing.
Boebert also asked whether Cheatle had communicated with anyone at the White House via encrypted messaging since the attack. After a pause, Cheatle responded that she had not.
Boebert pushed further, saying she would be working to obtain Cheatle’s personal phone.
“I would like to see the communications that she has had,” she told reporters after the hearing. “I would like to see the messaging apps that she has, and I would love a forensic audit of her phone to ensure that she hasn't removed or deleted anything. If she's using encrypted apps, then a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request is not going to cover the messages that have been communicated.”
In addition to asking for Cheatle’s resignation, Boebert told reporters she wants “every single personnel who failed that day” to be fired.
“I find it maddening that our country has come centimeters away from oblivion under your watch,” she said as she closed her questions with Cheatle. “You have answers – you are refusing to give those to us, directing us to the FBI, and this entire thing is a waste of time. You are responsible for the loss of a life and the shooting that took place on President Trump. You do need to resign. This is bipartisan. You need to be fired.”
As news spread of the attempted assassination, Boebert posted on X, formerly Twitter, calling on users to pray for Trump and posting a photo with Trump raising his fist with the captions “MY PRESIDENT” and “Never surrender.”
In the days following the attack, she introduced legislation that would ban the use of federal funds to pay Cheatle’s salary. While the bill, co-sponsored by several other Republicans, is unlikely to pass, it is another way for her to push her view that the assassination attempt was “either intentional or the result of gross incompetence” by the Secret Service.
In an interview with 9News in Denver just hours after the shooting, Boebert said President Joe Biden and “rhetoric from the left” is to blame for the shooting. According to a Washington Post tally, she is one of eight Congressional Republicans to publicly blame Biden for the attack.
“I do believe that Joe Biden is responsible for the shooting today,” she told NBC’s 9News in an interview July 13. “Everyone who has called him a fascist, everyone who has called him a threat to democracy, who said that he should be put in a bull’s-eye, as Joe Biden said, they need to have some very deep reflection tonight, before another tragedy like this takes place.”
In an interview with NBC, Biden said his “bull’s-eye” comment was a mistake; he said it was a figure of speech intended for voters to focus more closely on Trump’s agenda and policy issues.
When the 9News interview turned to how politicians can help cool down the tense political environment and rethink some of their own language, Boebert responded that she didn’t condone political violence.
“I have never called for political violence,” she said. “There is no place for political violence in America. This is a time for us to come together and put all of that aside. Literally, lives are being lost because of this rhetoric, and I am calling for an end to that.”
Though she soundly condemned political violence and language referencing it, Boebert’s own remarks and social media posts have referenced political violence.
In December 2020, before taking office to begin her first term, Boebert gave an interview at a Turning Point USA conference where she spoke about why she ran for Congress and why preserving the Second Amendment is a key point in her platform.
“This is our check on government,” she said in the interview with conservative outlet Breitbart News. “The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting, unless you’re talking about hunting tyrants, maybe.”
The congresswoman also drew criticism for her post on the social media platform X, then Twitter, on Jan. 6 that “Today is 1776,” a reference to the American Revolution. The post was widely criticized by political observers as being a thinly veiled call to action for Trump supporters.
On the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Boebert referred to those facing charges for their role in the attack as “political prisoners.”
Boebert’s office did not respond to request for comment about her past statements.
Kathryn Squyres is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at ksquyres@durangoherald.com.
