Secret Service Director Resigns

Happy Wednesday! It’s been a rough few weeks for America, but as proof that there are still good things in the world, college football “Week Zero” is now only one month away.

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Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will address the country from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET, making his first official public remarks since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race over the weekend. Biden returned to Washington on Tuesday after recovering from COVID-19 at his residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries—among the last high-ranking Democratic holdouts—endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday for the Democratic nomination for president. “Vice President Harris has done a truly impressive job securing the majority of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination,” Schumer said. “So now that the process has played out, from the grass roots, bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.” Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is willing to debate Harris, and more than once, if she becomes the Democratic nominee. 
• Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday, 10 days after the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and just one day after she faced a grilling from members of the House Oversight Committee. Cheatle had rejected calls for her resignation during the hearing. “The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she wrote in her resignation letter on Tuesday. “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.” President Biden said Tuesday an independent review continues and that he will appoint a new director. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also announced the creation of a bipartisan task force—seven Republicans and six Democrats, with subpoena authority—to investigate the attempted assassination.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress today, though many Democratic lawmakers are expected to boycott the event. Thousands of protesters are also expected outside the U.S. Capitol, prompting tight security. Netanyahu is set to meet with President Biden and Vice President Harris at the White House on Thursday, and with former President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday. 
• Leaders of rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah signed a joint statement in Beijing on Tuesday, agreeing to form a unity government. The statement endorses a temporary government for a Palestinian state that includes Gaza and the West Bank, though neither the statement nor Hamas and Fatah officials offered a timetable or plan for how to implement the regime. The statement would be difficult to implement, given the two factions’ history of tense relations—including a civil war in 2007—as well as Israel’s intention to eliminate Hamas’ operations in Gaza.
• The government of Moscow announced on Tuesday it would offer a bonus of 1.9 million rubles—equivalent to about $22,000—to city residents if they joined Russia’s military. In its announcement, Moscow officials also mentioned new military recruits will receive over 5.2 million rubles—$59,000—for their first year of service. The move is one of several recent ones by Russia to boost its military forces. The country has allowed some male prisoners to enlist and, as of last month, permits some female prison inmates to do the same.
• Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez reportedly told his staff on Tuesday that he will resign from Congress on August 20. Menendez was convicted earlier this month on 16 federal counts—including bribery, fraud, and acting as a foreign agent—connected to a yearslong bribery scheme that saw him take payoffs from Egyptian businessmen. Several Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Schumer and his fellow senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker, called for his resignation following the conviction and Menendez was facing the threat of expulsion. 
• Delta suspended travel for unaccompanied minors and canceled more than 400 additional flights on Tuesday, as the airline continued to struggle in the wake of Friday’s worldwide IT outage. Delta also. Commenting on the decision, the Department of Transportation (DOT) told the New York Times it was “extremely concerned” about reports of unaccompanied minors being stranded at airports. The federal agency announced an investigation into the airline, potentially to look into concerns it is not complying with federal passenger protection requirements. “[DOT] has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted on Tuesday. “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.”
• Attorneys representing Donald Trump on Monday appealed a $454 million judgment handed down in February in his New York civil fraud trial, arguing the case stems from a “power-grab” by the state’s attorney general, Letitia James. “[The New York Court]’s erroneous decisions, if upheld, would bestow upon [James] limitless power to target anyone she desires, including her self-described political opponents,” Trump’s lawyers argued in the appeal. “Based on the ruling in this case, no company will want to come to New York to do business, and many businesses are fleeing.” In April, Trump was required to post a $175 million bond in order to appeal the decision further. 
• Two landslides in southern Ethiopia on Sunday and Monday left at least 229 people dead as of Tuesday, and local authorities predicted the death toll could continue to rise in the remote, mountainous region in the southern part of the country. The landslides followed days of heavy rains in the region.

Cheatle Calls it Quits

Ten days after what Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle called “the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades,” the embattled director—who faced a grilling from members of Congress this week—resigned on Tuesday.

Hours-long congressional testimony on Monday did little to add to the sum of public knowledge about how the would-be assassin got so close to killing former President Donald Trump earlier this month. The heated hearing prompted rare bipartisan cooperation among members of the House Oversight Committee, and though Cheatle on Tuesday heeded calls for her to resign, there are still more questions than answers about the events in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. 

In an email to all Secret Service staff on Tuesday that was leaked to the Washington Post, Cheatle announced that she will resign as director. “The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission,” Cheatle wrote in her email to agency employees. “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director.”

Prior to Monday’s hearing, there had been a slow drip of new information about the gunman. In the run-up to his attempt on Trump’s life, he apparently looked up news stories about the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, the phrase “major depressive disorder,” and a list of political figures in both parties including both Trump and President Joe Biden. According to a briefing provided to lawmakers last week, the gunman was first identified by law enforcement …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our full 1,357-word story on Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time

• Writer and commentator Anne Applebaum joined Tim Mak of the Counteroffensive Substack to discuss her new book, Autocracy, Inc. “The reason why the book has that title is that I spent a long time searching for a metaphor,” she told Mak. “The relationship between modern autocracies: they are not an alliance, they are not a bloc. I don’t even think they’re an axis because axis implies some kind of coordinated activity. What they are more like is a huge international conglomerate within which there are separate companies that cooperate when it suits them, but otherwise do their own thing. And I think that’s the best way to describe a group of countries who have nothing in common ideologically. You have communist China, nationalist Russia, theocratic Iran, Bolivarian socialist Venezuela. … Unlike the most famous dictators of the 20th century, most of the leaders of these countries are very interested in money, and in hiding money, and in enriching people around them.”
• In Law & Liberty, Titus Techera reflected on the life and legacy of comedian Bob Newhart, who passed away last week at the age of 94. “Bob suffered the absurdities of modern life and made the middle-class man into a dignified figure, not despite but because he was put upon,” Techera wrote. Newhart unleashed his deadpan demeanor and keen cultural observations onto legions of fans through his hit comedy albums and equally successful sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. “I think the great affection for and the lasting fame of Bob Newhart owes to the fact that he was something modern Americans especially need, an avuncular figure who is not in the grip of foolish passion. Perhaps people are looking at some level for guidance, not just reassurance. It’s perhaps the best way to remember Bob—a rare mix of wit, the artistic mischief-making required for good storytelling, and a mild temper. Something for everyone to like, and therefore something to bring everyone together.”

Presented Without Comment

The Hill: [Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki] Haley Sends Cease-and-Desist to ‘Haley Voters for Harris’ Group

“Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue. Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong,” Haley said. “I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.”

Also Presented Without Comment

Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2024: Elon Musk Has Said He is Committing Around $45 Million a Month to a New Pro-Trump Super PAC

Fortune, July 23, 2024: Elon Musk Denies Reported $45 Million a Month Pledge to Trump, Says He Doesn’t ‘Subscribe to Cult of Personality’

Also Also Presented Without Comment

Associated Press: Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Flips Onto its Side After Crash Along Suburban Chicago Highway

In the Zeitgeist

The one and only Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic torch on the last leg before it reaches the Eiffel Tower on Friday to light the Olympic Cauldron at the opening ceremonies. The rapper confirmed the news in a tweet on Tuesday: “U gots to do it!! 👊🏿🇺🇸🔥🔥🏃🏿🥇🇫🇷 Will u be watchin?? #FollowTheDogg #ParisOlympics” 

We hope that means we will get to experience some of his sparkling sports commentary in the coming weeks, too:

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: Nick argued (🔒) that the burgeoning right-wing theory that Biden’s decision to step down was actually a “coup” is malarkey. 
• On the podcasts: A.B. Stoddard joins Jonah on The Remnant to take a victory lap for having sounded the bell early on Biden’s age. 
• On the site: Charlotte reports on Israel’s reaction to the recent drone attack on Tel Aviv, Kevin files his final reflection from the National Conservatism conference after it was bumped twice by breaking news, Jonathan Ruhe dives into the failures of the Biden administration’s Iran policy given Antony Blinken’s recent comments about the country’s nuclear program, and Jonah argues that Democrats shouldn’t get too worked up about ignoring “the will of the voters” because primaries are bad anyway.