Sen. Blackburn blasts Secret Service director for prioritizing party over attempted-assassination probe

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn slammed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for prioritizing a cocktail party over an investigation into the attempted assassination of former President Trump. 

Cheatle ducked a fuming group of senators who wanted to discuss security lapses that nearly cost Trump his life, but Blackburn and several other lawmakers confronted the embattled security boss Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

But Blackburn said Cheatle was occupied with a reception and declined to field their inquiries.

"What was not appropriate was that she was there in a luxury suite. She was having a cocktail reception for, as she termed them, their security partners and partners on the convention," Blackburn told Fox News Digital. 

"For her to say her priority was to make certain that people had a nice evening, that people had a nice party, that they were able to enjoy that luxury suite, and she did not have time for us. Does she not see the American people as a partner and the work of the Secret Service?"

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Questions have raged in the wake of the shocking assassination attempt that injured Trump, killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore and seriously wounded two others.

Critics have ripped Cheatle for failing to secure the building Thomas Matthew Crooks used to fire upon the Republican talisman from a mere 130 feet away. 

Cheatle has argued that she opted not to man the structure because it had a sloped roof. Cheatle has refused to step down amid growing calls for her resignation. 

Blackburn said Wednesday's rebuff was the second time she was unable to directly engage Cheatle about the alleged operational bungle.

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The senator said she and other lawmakers were on a call with Cheatle last week and were told they would have an opportunity to pose questions.

"We had a question queue," she said. "For some reason it got cut off. It didn't go very long and many of us did not get questions answered."

Much of the allotted time was monopolized by Cheatle, who gave a meandering and evasive account of what took place at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, she said.

Blackburn said she wanted to pose specific concerns to Cheatle at the RNC, but was told that she was unavailable due to the reception for convention security personnel.

"We offered to move to a quiet space with her so she could take a few minutes," she recalled. "We didn't want a lot of her time, [we] needed about five minutes of her time to get some explanation and answers."

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Blackburn outlined her most pressing questions about the attempted assassination.

"How could a 20-year-old operating as an assassin get this close to President Trump?" she asked. "How could he have a clear line of sight shot? And we wanted to know specifically what transpired. I think it was obvious she did not want to talk about this, because she felt like it was not the time and place."

She said lawmakers want to see the advanced planning and the operations report.

Blackburn was also flummoxed by reports that Crooks had been flagged as a potential threat well before the shots were fired.

She confirmed that senators were told during the briefing that Crooks had visited the rally site prior to the shooting and that investigators found more than 14,000 pictures on his phone.

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Blackburn said Crooks conducted numerous searches related to both Trump and President Biden, the dates of the Democratic National Convention and major depressive disorder.

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Despite being unable to talk to Cheatle, Blackburn said she was heartened by the RNC and bullish about Trump's electoral prospects in November.

"Thursday night was just the perfect finish for the RNC," she said. "I think it's been one of the strongest conventions I have ever seen. For President Trump to take the stage and speak and he did so beautifully. [He] laid out a positive forward vision. The delegates were so excited to hear from him."