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Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will not have her top-level security clearance renewed, the agency said.
This comes after Cheatle resigned last year amid mounting scrutiny over security lapses that led to the assassination attempt against then-candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump survived an assassination attempt during the July 13, 2024, rally, suffering an injury to his ear after a bullet grazed him, while audience member Corey Comperatore was killed and two others in the crowd were wounded. A Secret Service sniper fatally shot the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had climbed to the top of a nearby building.
The Secret Service, as well as several top U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, regularly update the security clearances for former directors. But the Secret Service now says not all former directors will have their clearances renewed under current Director Sean Curran.
SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE RESIGNS AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE IN WAKE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
“The U.S. Secret Service sponsors security clearances for all the former directors for their knowledge of operational and national security matters,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. “The purpose for this was so the agency could maintain formal and protected communication including potentially sensitive and classified matters with former officials.”
“Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency,” the spokesperson continued. “Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within…
