"Embattled Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who is facing congressional outcry and calls to resign over security lapses leading to former President Donald Trump’s near-assassination Saturday, landed her role thanks largely to a close relationship with first lady Jill Biden, The Post has learned.
Cheatle, 53, is the second woman to lead the presidential protection agency and secured the non-Senate-confirmed role in August 2022 after a three-year stint as senior director of global security at PepsiCo. Before that, she had served 27 years in the Secret Service, beginning in the Clinton administration.
Four sources close to President Biden’s family, including people who interacted with Cheatle during the Obama-Biden administration, said she was well liked by the future first lady and her most senior aides, including top adviser Anthony Bernal.
“ 'Cheatle served on Dr. Biden’s second lady detail and Anthony pushed for her,” a Democratic insider told The Post. “Anthony has no national security or law enforcement experience. He should have no influence over the selection of the USSS director.”
“ 'I heard at the time she was being considered for director that Anthony had pushed her forward as an option,” another well-placed source told The Post.
"Bernal, 51, is widely regarded as rivaling even White House chief of staff Jeff Zients in terms of influence over administration decisions. He has faced allegations of bullying and sexual harassment from colleagues who have likened his sway to that of Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin over the Romanov court."
Do You Know What DEI Actually Is? (msn.com)
“ 'Anthony is obsessed with being DEI-compliant,” a third source told The Post, using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion — the human resources practice of attempting to ensure diversity in the workforce." . . .
The agency has the goal of increasing the number of women to 30 per cent by 2030, but critics claim females make less effective agents than men.
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