The summoning of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before the House Oversight Committee follows the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13, 2024

The US House Oversight Committee, a key investigative body, has called upon Kimberly Cheatle, Director of the Secret Service, to testify at a hearing scheduled for July 22. 

The hearing will focus on the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. 

In a statement, the committee emphasised that the public is seeking information and clarity on this matter, stating, “Americans demand answers about the assassination attempt of President Trump

The summoning of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before the House Oversight Committee follows the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13, 2024. 

During the incident, Trump suffered a gunshot wound to the ear and was visibly injured, with blood seen dripping from his face.

The FBI is set to lead the investigation, and the suspected shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot dead by the Secret Service

One spectator was killed at the rally and two others were critically injured, while a witness told the BBC that he saw a man with a rifle crawling on a roof before shots rang out, and that he tried to warn police.

However, it was reported that earlier at a news conference, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent, Kevin Rojek, said “it is surprising” that the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before the Secret Service killed him.

But when asked if there was a failure of security, he said they were “not gonna make that assessment” with an active investigation.

Meanwhile, the Secret Service was not at the news conference.

BBC analysis noted that the FBI may be leading the investigation into how the incident could have happened, but the finger of blame points clearly at the Secret Service.

According to BBC’s Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner, “They have one job – to protect America’s presidents, both current and former, and in that they failed spectacularly last night.

“It has been 43 years since the last assassination attempt on a serving US president when Ronald Reagan was shot in the lung but survived.

Today US politicians, and the public, want to know how a would-be assassin was able to crawl onto a rooftop vantage point, armed with a rifle and loose off four shots towards the podium, all in an area that was supposed to have been cleared.”

The investigation is reportedly already underway involving the FBI, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

Kimberly Cheatle has served as director of the US Secret Service since September 2022