The U.S. Secret Service has declined to renew the top-level security clearance of former Director Kimberley Cheatle, amid mounting scrutiny over security lapses that led to the July 2024 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Cheatle, who led the agency from 2022 until her resignation shortly after the incident, is no longer eligible for continued access to classified information, The Post has learned. The decision follows vocal opposition from key Republicans in Congress, particularly Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has led investigations into the agency’s failures surrounding the attack.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service confirmed that current Director Sean Curran, appointed by Trump after the attempt on his life, is “modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency” and reassessing the need for former directors to retain security clearances.
“During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed,” the spokesperson said.
RealClearPolitics was first to report the clearance denial, which reportedly followed inquiries about Johnson’s objections. Johnson, chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has repeatedly criticized Cheatle’s handling of security planning during Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Multiple congressional probes have alleged that Cheatle’s leadership team denied Curran’s requests for increased security resources prior to the attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which Trump was injured when a bullet grazed his ear.
Cheatle has denied those accusations. In a statement through her attorney, she rejected claims that she misled Congress, calling such suggestions “patently false” and “a disservice” to frontline agents who were unfairly blamed for what she characterized as a broader team failure.
The Secret Service traditionally maintains clearances for former directors to ensure they can participate in secure conversations about ongoing national security matters. That policy, however, appears to be shifting under Curran and Trump’s second administration.
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order stripping access to classified material from dozens of former intelligence officials — including the 51 signatories of a 2020 letter suggesting Hunter Biden’s laptop story had signs of Russian disinformation.
Despite the serious security lapse at the Pennsylvania rally, Trump has spoken publicly in defense of the Secret Service’s overall performance.
“There were mistakes made,” Trump told Lara Trump during a Fox News interview last month. “They should have been tied in with local police. But in terms of the bigger plot, I was satisfied. And I have great confidence in these people.”
Cheatle, appointed by President Biden in 2022 and recommended by former First Lady Jill Biden, had already faced criticism from Republicans over her handling of campaign security logistics prior to the attack. Her resignation came just 10 days after the attempt on Trump’s life.
