Secret Service Scandal Follows Yearslong String of Failures

The director of the Secret Service is refusing to step down after one of the worst agency failures since President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. On Saturday, former President Donald Trump had part of his ear blown off as a result of federal officials’ refusal to secure the rooftop of a building just 450 feet from a Pennsylvania rally platform.

“I do plan to stay on,” Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told ABC News on Monday.

The agency chief went on to blame local law enforcement in Pennsylvania for the cascade of security lapses that ultimately culminated in the Republican presidential nominee taking a gunshot to the ear and only surviving by a miracle. Two rallygoers were injured in the assassination attempt and a third was killed.

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