- Betsy DeVos said she resigned after she learned that Trump wouldn't be removed from office by the 25th Amendment.
- DeVos confirmed that she had conversations about the 25th Amendment after the Capitol riot.
- DeVos served as Trump's education secretary.
In the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she resigned from her Cabinet position after she learned that Vice President Mike Pence wouldn't support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office.
"I spoke with the vice president and just let him know I was there to do whatever he wanted and needed me to do or help with, and he made it very clear that he was not going to go in that direction or that path," DeVos told USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques in her first public interview about her decision to step down on January 7, 2021.
"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 added, confirming reports at the time that Cabinet members were having discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment.
The 25th Amendment allows a vice president to assume the presidency so long as he and a majority of the Cabinet members approve. But after Pence opposed such efforts, DeVos decided to leave the Trump administration that same day, Jacques reported.
DeVos has not spoken with Trump since, she told Jacques.
DeVos' comments come ahead of the release of her new book, "Hostages No More: The Fight for Education Freedom and the Future of the American Child," which comes out on June 21. The book discusses the education system in the United States and highlights DeVos' time working for Trump in his one term up until her resignation.
In the book, DeVos recounted the attack on the Capitol on January 6 and wrote it was her breaking point with supporting Trump.
"To me, there was a line in the sand. It wasn't about the election results. It was about the values and image of the United States. It was about public service rising above self. The president had lost sight of that," she wrote, according to USA Today.
DeVos told Jacques that what happened on January 6 was "not defensible in any way" and criticized the president over his inaction.
"When I saw what was happening on Jan. 6 and didn't see the president step in and do what he could have done to turn it back or slow it down or really address the situation, it was just obvious to me that I couldn't continue," DeVos said.
The former education secretary was among a slew of Trump administration officials who resigned in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, along with former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, and former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
The House select committee investigating January 6 will hold six public hearings this month to reveal its findings after a year-long probe. The first hearing is on Thursday evening. The panel has interviewed over 1,000 witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents as part of its investigation.