From RealClearPolicy
A Biden administration Department of Homeland Security official moved quickly after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation in 2024 to reassure Rowe, the incoming acting director at the time, that operations would continue unchanged under his new leadership – even as the agency struggled to defend itself to Congress and the public over Trump’s near-assassination.
Newly released documents obtained by the Center to Advance Security in America, a conservative watchdog organization, through ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation reveal new internal reactions to the Butler shooting. The files also provide new detail about the fallout after Cheatle’s resignation as Secret Service director days later.
Then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued an agency-wide email at 1:08 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, on his statement regarding Cheatle’s resignation, under pressure from lawmakers after her testimony to Congress and Rowe’s appointment.
The identity of the person who forwarded the email to Rowe was redacted in the first version CASA received. CASA Director James Fitzpatrick says the DHS and the Secret Service withheld the name, citing personal privacy and a concern that disclosure could interfere with law enforcement proceedings.