Trump’s education and transport secretaries resign over Capitol Hill violence

Agencies

January 8, 2021

Washington, Jan 8: Two of the US Cabinet members -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transport Secretary Elaine Chao -- have resigned over the storming of the Capitol by President Donald Trump's supporters.

DeVos, whose resignation comes into effect on Friday, said the insurrection on Capitol Hill was an "inflection point" for her, while Chao said she was deeply troubled by the violence. Chao's resignation will come into effect on Monday.

In her resignation letter to President Trump on Thursday, DeVos said, We should be highlighting and celebrating your administration's many accomplishments on behalf of the American people. Instead we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the US Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people's business."

"That behaviour was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me," she said, adding that impressionable children are watching all this, and they are learning from us.

Earlier in the day, Transport Secretary Chao also announced her resignation.

In an email to her staffers on Thursday afternoon, Chao said, "Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."

DeVos and Chao join a growing exodus of officials in the final days of the Trump administration

A day earlier a number of senior White House staffers resigned over the Capitol Hill violence. They include US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews and White House social secretary Rickie Niceta.

Mick Mulvaney, the US special envoy for Northern Ireland and the former acting White House chief of staff, also resigned. I can't stay here. Not after yesterday, he told the CBS news.

Among others who submitted their resignations on Thursday were Tyler Goodspeed, the acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors; and John Costello, deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and security at the Commerce Department.

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Pak jail authorities say Imran Khan is alive and healthy after ‘murder’ rumours spark panic

News Network

November 27,2025

Authorities at Pakistan’s high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed speculation about the condition of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, rejecting rumours that he had been moved out of the facility or was in danger. Officials said Khan was in “good health” and described the viral death claims as “baseless.”

“There is no truth to reports about his transfer from Adiala Jail,” the Rawalpindi prison administration said in a statement, according to Geo News. “He is fully healthy and receiving complete medical attention.”

Amid swirling rumours on social media, Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), urged the federal government to issue an official clarification and demanded that authorities allow his family to meet him immediately, Dawn reported.

The frenzy began after Khan’s three sisters called for an impartial probe into what they described as a “brutal” police assault on them and other PTI supporters outside Adiala Jail last week. Soon after, several social media handles circulated unverified claims alleging that Khan had been “killed” inside the prison.

The rumours intensified when a handle named “Afghanistan Times” claimed that “credible sources” had confirmed Khan’s “murder” and that his body had been moved out of the jail — allegations that have not been verified by any credible agency.

Imran Khan, PTI’s patron-in-chief, has been lodged in the Rawalpindi prison since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared restriction has prevented family members and senior PTI leaders from meeting him. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has reportedly been denied access despite making seven attempts.

In a letter to Punjab Police Chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters — Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan — said they were “peacefully protesting” outside the jail when police allegedly launched an unprovoked assault after streetlights were switched off.

“At 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground and dragged across the road,” Noreen Niazi said, alleging that other women present were also slapped and manhandled.

Adiala Jail officials reiterated that speculation over Imran Khan’s health was unfounded and insisted that his well-being was being ensured, Geo News reported.

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