Monday’s House Oversight and Accountability hearing caused quite a stir in Washington.
The hearing brought Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle before a group of bipartisan House representatives looking for answers about what went wrong during the July 13 assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.
Representatives may have been looking for answers, but they didn’t seem to find any. Cheatle appeared to be obstinate throughout the hearing, unwilling to answer many pertinent questions.
The hearing generated its fair share of headlines, but few moments were as memorable the exchange between Cheatle and Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison.
Biggest Shocker of the Oversight Committee 👇 https://t.co/AdRnnKqAWK
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) July 22, 2024
When Burlison pressed Cheatle on what devices she was using to communicate with colleagues in the Secret Service, Cheatle admitted she had been using encrypted apps (apps such as Signal and Telegram) on her personal device.
Given the nature of encryption, those messages — which may be vital in proving exactly what went wrong on July 13 — may be lost forever.
The use of message encryption by government employees certainly poses many problems, especially when it comes to accountability.
Should Cheatle be jailed for obstructing Congress?
Yes: 99% (97 Votes)
No: 1% (1 Votes)
After all, how can such employees be held accountable if they’re able to erase all evidence of their communications via encryption?
Rep. Burlison seemed shaken by Cheatle’s answer.
“I’m actually shocked that you are using your personal device and encrypted communication tools,” Burlinson said.
“I think that that might be the most shocking thing that I’ve heard today. I didn’t expect for you to say that.”
Cheatle’s encryption app admission is far from the only noteworthy moment to come out of Monday’s hearing.
Though many likely expected Republicans to be the ones most vociferously interrogating Cheatle, one notable Democrat also joined the fray — Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
At one point, Khanna even insisted that Cheatle should resign from her station.
KHANNA: “Do you know what Stuart Knight [who was in charge of the Secret Service when Reagan was shot] did? Do you know what he did afterwards?”
CHEATLE: “He remained on duty.”
KHANNA: “He resigned.” pic.twitter.com/o4B8RSFc5L
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 22, 2024
“I just don’t think this is partisan. If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign,” Khanna said.
