A mounting number of former Trump administration Cabinet members are reportedly cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee, including former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who recently participated in an interview with the panel.
In addition to Chao, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien have been in talks with the committee while ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered testimony Tuesday, CNN reported.
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“I had planned on serving through the end of your term in office,” Chao wrote in a letter to former President Donald Trump on Jan. 7, 2021. “But after yesterday’s events at the U.S. Capitol, I will resign as U.S. Secretary of Transportation, effective Monday, January 11, 2021, to provide a short period of transition.”
Chao was joined by DeVos in tendering her resignation notice the day after rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Chao is the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a man whom Trump routinely castigates. Both women had served in Trump’s Cabinet for the majority of his presidency.
Pompeo opted to serve out his term as secretary of state rather than resign in protest of the riot. He reportedly testified before the committee on Tuesday and discussed the 25th Amendment, which provides a pathway to remove a president if the Cabinet and vice president determine he or she “is unable to discharge the powers and duties” of the office.
The trio is believed to have floated the notion of invoking the 25th Amendment to oust Trump from office after the riot, CNN reported. DeVos said that then-Vice President Mike Pence opposed the endeavor, ensuring its failure and prompting her to resign, she recalled to USA Today.
“I spoke with colleagues. I wanted to get a better understanding of the law itself and see if it was applicable in this case. There were more than a few people who had those conversations internally,” she said.
O’Brien, who was technically not a member of the Cabinet, was apparently also involved in talks about the 25th Amendment. He is expected to appear before the committee Friday, sources told CNN. He reportedly mulled resigning but ultimately decided to remain in his post.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to a representative for the Jan. 6 committee for comment.
Chao, DeVos, and Pompeo join a myriad of former Cabinet officials who have engaged with the committee. This includes former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, and former Attorney General William Barr.
Other top Trump White House officials, such as acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and then-counsel Pat Cipollone, have also met with the committee in recent weeks.
