USA, the director of the Secret Service has resigned. Biden: 'New appointment soon'

Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned. On Monday Cheatle had been put under pressure during a congressional hearing on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Joe Biden said he was grateful for Kimberly Cheatle's decades of work. "She dedicated and risked her life to protect the country," said the president, who is awaiting the outcome of the independent review of what happened on 13 July, the day of Donald Trump's attempted assassination. "We know that what happened that day can never happen again. I expect to appoint a new director of the Secret Service shortly."

"The solemn mission of the Secret Service is to protect our nation's leaders. Theattack on former President Donald Trump on 13 July is the most significant operational failure for the Secret Service in decades," Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle herself had admitted in testimony before the House Oversight Committee. 'As director of the US Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security failures,' she had added, pressed for hours in a bipartisan manner by Republicans and Democrats, who demanded her resignation. But that was all Cheatle conceded, dribbling out many questions, entrenching herself behind the confidentiality of the ongoing investigation, defending many of her choices (including the hiring of many women), and rejecting accusations that she had denied the Trump campaign the requested reinforcements.

So, refusing to leave office: 'I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time,' he had added somewhat stiltedly. "The level of security provided to the former president increased well before the campaign and is steadily increasing as the threats evolve," Cheatle assured. The now former head of the Secret Service had limited herself to saying that Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old who shot Trump lurking on a rooftop 150 metres away from the stage, was 'outside the security perimeter'. But she did not disclose the operational plan to protect The Donald that day and did not clarify how the young man - later killed by snipers - could have had ample time to survey and climb the building while agents had declared it safe.