Maryland Democrat Kweisi Mfume says he is perplexed that the building the shooter used was placed outside the Secret Service's security perimeter "when clearly it was close enough for someone to launch an attack".

Kimberly Cheatle says the agency had "overwatch" of the building for the event, but declines to provide specifics on whether a drone was used.

"I think it's fair to say the overwatch failed," Mfume says. "Do you agree?"

Once again, Cheatle repeats that she will need to review the full details of the ongoing investigation first.

Republican Gary Palmer is asking Cheatle about why the roof where the shooter was located wasn't secured, especially in light of threats against Trump by Iran.

We've already heard this line of questioning today and Cheatle doesn't offer any information we haven't heard during previous answers.

Palmer says that roof provided a "clear line of sight" on the former president and says the gunman had the ability to "cause enormous harm".

He says failure to secure the building put Trump's life in danger, as well as the members of public present.

Image source, Getty Images

Kimberly Cheatle is facing a bipartisan beating so far during this hearing, as she evades answers and insists she will not resign.

Texas Republican Michael Cloud slams her for providing a "lame excuse" for why the roof Thomas Crooks was on had not been secured, and for backtracking on several answers.

"We've gotten more information from YouTube videos than what you've provided," he says.

Following him is California Democrat Ro Khanna, who asks: "Would you agree that this is the most serious security lapse of the Secret Service since Reagan was shot in 1981?"

Cheatle responds that it is, at which point Khanna says the then-director of her agency resigned in response to that incident.

"I don't think this is partisan," he says.

"If you have an assassination attempt on a president, a former president or a candidate, you need to resign."

Republican Michael Cloud cites different reports that allege the Secret Service was notified about a potential threat. He asks how long they may have known and whether Trump was notified.

"There is a difference between a suspicious person and a threat," Cheatle responds.

She says the Secret Service are looking back at "communications" to see when the information about a suspicious person was passed on to them.

Asked again if Trump was notified, she repeats that they are going back to see if "those notifications were made and who those notifications were made to".

Cloud says there is "more information from YouTube videos than from what you have provided to us".

Cheatle has maintained throughout the hearing that she cannot comment on aspects of the shooting because of ongoing investigations.

Cloud presses Cheatle on whether the public can have confidence the incident is being transparently investigated.

Cheatle insists she has led the agency "with integrity", adding: "I assure this committee I will provide answers when we have a full and complete report."

Image source, Getty Images

Republican Michael Cloud asks if Director Cheatle reviewed her agency's security plan for the event.

"I personally do not review security plans for events that take place across the country," she replies.

"Any of them?" an incredulous Cloud presses her.

Cheatle says that "a conjunction of personnel" review the "multi-layered" plans but there is no single individual who signs off on them.

"So there's no accountability?" the Texas lawmaker asks.

He says her answers amount to "plausible deniability" which effectively allow her to hold on to her job.

Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi is asking about the timeline of 13 July and presses her on why the rally wasn't stopped when a potential threat was identified.

The committee is played a mobile phone video from the scene of people warning about a person on the roof two minutes before the shooting. Trump can be heard speaking in the background.

He asks Cheatle if there was any moment when agents considered stopping the rally because of security concerns.

Cheatle says "she does not know all the communications" that took place on that day as they are still being reviewed.

Krishnamoorthi also presses her on why the building where the shooter was located, which was clearly within rifle range of Trump, was deemed to be outside of the security perimeter.

Finally, he asks Cheatle to confirm that there is no evidence the shooting was "staged", the result of a government "conspiracy" or "directed by a foreign state".

She confirms there is no evidence of any of those things.

Some Republicans have focused on Kimberly Cheatle's gender to suggest her selection as Secret Service leader is part of a broader government agenda to hit diversity, equity and inclusion goals on gender and race.

There is no evidence for this claim.

They have also asked whether she is hiring the best applicants in her effort to increase the number of female agents.

"Are you not hiring men because of your desire to hit certain targets?" Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin asks.

"I am hiring the best qualified candidates that put in an application and want to work for our great organisation," Cheatle responds.

"Could you elaborate on why you want one-third of the Secret Service to be women?" he asks.

Grothman says she has never stated that and declines to say she has ever set any such targets.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

While the briefing has at times been tense - perhaps even hostile - there has been little in the way of answers about what took place at the rally in Butler on 13 July.

In the over an hour since the hearing began, lawmakers - both Democrats and Republicans - have peppered Cheatle with lingering questions about the shooting.

This has included why the roof from which Crooks fired was not secure, whether he flew a drone over the area ahead of time, why he was not prevented from entering the area after being identified as suspicious, and how he was able to get on the roof in the first place.

Cheatle has dodged these questions, repeatedly telling frustrated lawmakers that she won't "get into specifics" regarding the security set-up, citing the ongoing investigations. At times, she's referred lawmakers to the FBI.

She has also repeatedly declined to give names of specific agents or personnel.

Some lawmakers, such as Florida Republican Byron Donalds, have been in and out of the room during the hearing, which is likely to last several hours.

Many of Cheatle's most vocal critics, such as Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, have not had their turn yet.

Some lawmakers, especially the Republicans, are clearly getting angrier as the hearing goes on.

Just a moment ago, Florida's Anna Paulina Luna responded to one of Cheatle's answers with a loud "are you serious" from over my left shoulder. She's now shaking her head and exchanging glances with other Republicans in the row behind her.

Image source, Getty Images

Democrat Gerry Connolly loses patience with Director Cheatle for failing to clearly answer whether the ubiquity of guns in America makes her agency's job easier or harder.

He references an attack on his office in Virginia last year.

"He came to kill me," he says of the assailant. "When he couldn't, he beat one of my staffers with a baseball bat. We live with the threat of violence!"

Connolly concludes his questioning by saying: "I am sorry you've chosen to evade".

You can read about the attack on Connolly's office here.

Democrat Gerry Connolly repeatedly asks Cheatle to comment on gun control and accuses her of "evading" his question about whether the Secret Service's job is made harder or easier by the number of guns easily available in the US.

Cheatle refuses to be drawn on the controversial topic, prompting Connolly to ask it time and time again.

The agency director says the environment her agents work in is "always difficult and evolving", also saying "I understand second amendment rights".

Connolly is clearly exasperated at Cheatle's refusal to be drawn on his line of questioning.

He says politicians "live with the threat of violence" and tells the committee about an attack at his own office, in which a would-be assassin attacked a member of his staff.

Asked by Republican Virgina Foxx what grade she would give the Secret Service on the day of the assasination attempt, Cheatle says she would grade the officers an A - pointing to their bravery in throwing their bodies in front of Trump.

Foxx quizzes Cheatle on why she should be trusted in her role as Director of the Secret Service after "such a spectacular failure," and how she is taking accountability.

"I have taken accountability and I will continue to take accountability. I am responsible for finding the answers to how this event occurred and making sure it doesn't happen again," she replies.

Republican Virginia Foxx presents statistics that suggest the Secret Service has recently seen its workforce depleted and that it was ranked "dead last among the best places to work in the federal government" in 2022.

Cheatle disputes the characterisation, saying she has overseen an increase in hiring and resources.

Foxx asks: "Given the high-profile failures and rotten culture at the Secret Service, why should the American people have any confidence in your ability to lead?"

Cheatle says the agency has an incredible mission and an incredible culture of "service over self".

Foxx says that may be true of agents on the frontlines, but not of the leadership .

Image source, Getty Images

Cheatle is being pressed on how she came to lead the agency in the first place and whether she is fully qualified and equipped to do the role.

She says: "I think I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time."

Stephen Lynch asks about a recent report on the Secret Service's ongoing staffing crisis, noting that it poses - according to one official - "the greatest threat to the agency".

Lynch asks how this is impacting Cheatle's agency on a daily basis.

She says the agency currently has over 8,000 employees, but a full complement that meets all future and emerging needs would require some 9,500 employees.

Lynch says there was a "considerable delay" in removing Trump from the podium after the shooting began.

He notes the shooter "got off eight shots" and had the capacity to "basically mow down that whole Secret Service detachment, as well as the president" had he not been "neutralised".

What caused that delay, he asks. Cheatle says agents identified the shooting within three seconds and threw themselves on the stage.

Lynch acknowledges the heroism of those agents but repeats that Trump was "exposed" on stage for over a minute.

Cheatle says her personnel created a "body bunker" on top of Trump. Lynch says the weapon used in the attack would have made "quick work" of those agents if the gunman had been able to continue shooting.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Ohio Republican Michael Turner continues the sharp questioning that Cheatle is expected to face - especially from Republican lawmakers.

At the end of his remarks, Turner said that Trump's survival makes Cheatle "look incompetent".

"President Biden needs to fire you," he says. "You have no concept of the security threats".

According to Turner, the Secret Service's failures in Butler mean that the agency is likely ill-equipped to deal with more substantial threats such as those from the so-called Islamic State or from nation states such as Iran.

Cheatle is also facing questions about the rangefinder possessed by Crooks at the Butler rally - an item which raised suspicions.

Range finders, according to Cheatle, are not prohibited at rallies.

We're likely to hear more about this particular item in the coming hours. Crooks' rangefinder and the sequence of events in which he was identified in the minutes before the shooting have already been the focus of multiple lines of inquiry today.

As of now, the early questions appear to reflect the political fury that this attempt occurred at all.

Mike Turner argues that the Secret Service's threat assessment did not appear to match the "heightened threat environment" facing Donald Trump.

He notes that the FBI director has noted recently that the "lights are flashing red" with regard to the terror threat to Americans.

Kimberly Cheatle admits that "there was clearly a breakdown and a failure that day."

Turner sharply responds with a sigh: "Director Cheatle, because Donald Trump is alive and thank God he is, you look incompetent.

"If he had been killed, you'd look culpable."

He too calls for her to resign - and if she does not, for President Joe Biden to fire her.

Cheatle is now being pressed on the agency's security measures given the wider international threats made against Donald Trump.

Republican Mike Turner asks about the security plan that was in place on 13 July - specifically, what standing "threat assessment" is in place for Trump given threats made against him by Iranian operatives.

He asks if Cheatle has read the intelligence on the Iranian threats, and she says she has.

Turner repeatedly asks Cheatle if the threat assessment which was in place was sufficient to protect Trump from a possible Iranian assassin.

During a tense back and forth, Cheatle says that she believes the assessment included preparation for that threat but acknowledges "gaps" in the plan.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Facing a barrage of increasingly hostile questions from Ohio's Jim Jordan, Cheatle has refused to provide any details on her conversation with the Secret Service counter-sniper who took the shot that killed Crooks.

She declines to do so, citing the ongoing investigations.

That answer leaves Jordan, a hardline Republican, unsatisfied.

"That's precisely the sort of information that the American people want to know," he says. "I don't think you've answered a single question from me, the chairman or the ranking member."

We've now moved on to Washington DC's Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, who is asking Cheatle about the Secret Service's policies towards individuals with concealed handgun permits.

Many of the most combative members of the committee haven't yet had their chance to speak, but Jordan's tone could be a good indication of what we will hear from the Republican side.