Will National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien resign over Capitol riots after Stephanie Grisham and Sarah Matthews?

Following the violent riots at the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters, several of President Donald Trump's staffers are considering resigning from their respective positions, while some already have. National security adviser Robert O'Brien was one of the many who seemed to weigh the decision along with deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell. CNN's sources say Pottinger's resignation is imminent.

This development comes after O'Brien defended Vice President Mike Pence after Trump slammed him for refusing to do his bidding, the president had asked him to 'do the right thing' and block the formal confirmation of Joe Biden's presidential win. The vice president released a letter confirming he did not have such powers and did not believe those powers should be afforded to anyone in his role. Following his reply, O'Brien said: "I just spoke with Vice President Pence. He is a genuinely fine and decent man. He exhibited courage today as he did at the Capitol on 9/11 as a Congressman. I am proud to serve with him." 

Many White House staffers resigned on Wednesday, January 6, with more aides expected to follow suit in the days to come. Stephanie Grisham set the tone by resigning first. She served as the chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. She was followed by deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews and White House social secretary Rickie Niceta. The news was confirmed by a White House official.

According to The Hill, Matthews, in her statement said: “I was honored to serve in the Trump administration and proud of the policies we enacted. 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." 

In addition to the O'Brien, NBC News also reported that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was also weighing her options. There is no concrete update yet on whether Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has made her decision. The string of resignations had netizens discussing actively on Twitter as well. "So, it took an actual insurrection and coup directed by Trump to get these treasonweasels to consider resigning? The *only* resignation that matters is that of Trump himself. He's the one that has to go; everyone else can follow him out the door never to return to any govt post," read one of the tweets.

"Considering? If my bosses were traitors, I'd quit and register in the party that are not traitors," read one of the comments. While another called the recent resignations a sign of disloyalty: "More rats deserting a sinking ship. Robert O’Brien National Security Advisor resigns & Matthew Pottinger, Deputy National Security Advisor resigns."
 

Prior to this murky turn of events, Trump had falsely claimed that has won the 2020 Presidential election. Earlier on January 6, he told a crowd of his supporters who had gathered on the Ellipse that he planned to march with them to the Capitol building.

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol. And we're gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we're probably not going to be cheering, so much for some of them, because you'll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong," he said. What followed was mayhem and one woman was shot and killed in the process.