“The president is not well-served. … I think this lady has to go – Ms. Pierson,” the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, reportedly said during a radio interview on NewsOneNow Wednesday, the day after Pierson testified before the committee. “There has to be drastic changes.”
In another interview on MSNBC, he said that he does not “feel comfortable” with her at the head of the agency.
“I have come to the conclusion that my confidence and my trust in this director, Ms. Pierson, has eroded. And I do not feel comfortable with her in that position,” Cummings said.
An aide to Cummings later said that Cummings and Pierson spoke Wednesday morning and he told her “if she can’t restore the public’s trust in the agency – and in particular address the cultural issues so agents feel comfortable raising security concerns to their higher-ups – then of course she should not be in that position.”
“After yesterday’s hearing, and after new revelations last night, the Congressman’s trust is eroding, and he believes there needs to be an independent review of the agency,” the Cummings aide said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters Wednesday that she will follow Cummings’ recommendation if he ultimately calls for Pierson’s resignation.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who has been deeply involved in investigating the Secret Service, told Bloomberg News, “The president should fire her or at least she should resign.”
