Top Melania aide Stephanie Grisham resigns because of riots on Capitol Hill 

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Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger has resigned, joining top Melania aide Stephanie Grisham who quit earlier Wednesday, while National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien is also on the brink of leaving.  

Pottinger handed in his resignation Wednesday in the wake of Donald Trump’s response to the siege on the US Capitol, according to Bloomberg.

The Deputy National Security Advisor had been planning to stand down on election day but sources said earlier Wednesday he was mulling quitting earlier following the events at the Capitol.    

Pottinger’s departure comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary who became chief of staff for Melania Trump, resigned her position on Wednesday effective immediately.

Grisham’s decision was said to be based on the riots on Capitol Hill and sources said more aides including O’Brien could follow her.  

Additionally, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, is considering resigning, NBC News reported. 

Grisham left because of assault on the Capitol by the president’s supporters, a former administration staffer still close to her told DailyMail.com, and the way Donald Trump handled.

There were reports some White House aides were considering resigning over the mob scene at the Capitol and President Trump‘s lackluster response to it.

Grisham is the first one to become public. But she was soon followed by deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews.

‘As someone who worked in the halls of Congress I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today. I’ll be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power,’ Matthews said in a statement. 

Additionally, White House social secretary Rickie Niceta, who also works in the East Wing with the first lady, has submitted her resignation tonight in reaction to today’s protest, ABC News reported. 

O’Brien, deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell are all also considering resigning, CNN reported.

O’Brien tweeted his praise for Vice President Mike Pence’s handling of the situation in the Capitol earlier Wednesday. 

Trump’s refusal to condemn the violence in the Capitol, which interrupted the constitutionally-mandated certification of the electoral college vote, drew criticism from several members of his own party. The process is the final step in certifying Joe Biden’s victory. The president referred to the insurgents as ‘great patriots.’

She was one of President Trump’s longest serving aides, having joined him during the 2016 presidential campaign and lasted until the final weeks of his administration.

She was highly trusted by both Trumps, having been with them since 2015.  

During her tenure as press secretary she carried the distinction of having never held a briefing in the White House press briefing room. 

‘It has been an honor to serve the country in the @WhiteHouse . I am very proud to have been a part of @FLOTUS @MELANIATRUMP mission to help children everywhere, & proud of the many accomplishments of this Administration. Signing off now,’ Grisham tweeted from her official account. 

Grisham clashed with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows when he joined the administration. He shook up the press operation, naming Kayleigh McEnany press secretary in April of this year.

Grisham then went back to the East Wing, where she had been previously the spokesperson for the first lady, to be Melania Trump’s chief of staff.  

She is close to Melania Trump with the two women texting often, even when Grisham was moved to the West Wing to hold the triple role of press secretary, communications director and spokesperson for the first lady.  

But last month Grisham was subject to a ‘hit piece’ in the New York Post with White House ‘insiders’ blaming her for the first lady missing out on a magazine cover to Meghan Markle. 

‘Out of nowhere and a complete hit piece,’ a senior administration official described it to DailyMail.com. ‘I’ve been trying to figure out what logic can be in it and I can’t find it. It’s two months until the end of the administration. I really don’t understand where this is coming from there.’

Citing ‘insiders who have worked for the White House over the past four years’ and ‘administration loyalists,’ the New York Post claimed the first lady has been ‘ill-served’ by Grisham.

One of the examples they cite is the September 2020 edition of the British magazine Tatler where Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was featured on the cover instead of Melania Trump, who had given the magazine an interview via e-mail.  

The New York Post is known to be one of President Trump’s favorite papers and one he reads daily – meaning the piece was surely noticed by the commander-in-chief.