The Secret Service abruptly halted the security clearance renewal for former Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran reversed course and decided against renewing Cheatle’s top-level security clearance after RealClearPolitics brought up Senator Ron Johnson’s opposition to the agency.
RealClearPolitics reported:
The Secret Service was moving forward with renewing former Director Kimberly Cheatle’s top-level security clearance but reversed course after RealClearPolitics inquired about a key senator’s opposition, according to multiple sources in the Secret Service community.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and previously chaired the full Homeland Security panel, argued that Cheatle should not have her security clearance renewed after her leadership decisions contributed to the agency’s numerous failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign,” Johnson told RCP. “I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated.”
Asked for comment on Johnson’s opposition, the Secret Service issued a vague statement saying Secret Service Director Sean Curran, a Trump appointee, had decided that “not all former directors” should have their security clearances renewed.
As TGP reported last month, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that the Secret Service during Biden’s presidency did not alert the team responsible for securing Trump’s July 13, 2024, rally.