Melania Trump was reportedly overseeing a photo shoot during Capitol attack

In the final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, Melania Trump has reportedly been “checked out” of her job as first lady. But she was busy on Wednesday with a post-White House project: A coffee- table book on decorative objects she has amassed and restored during her time as first lady.

So, while MAGA-hat-wearing supporters of President Trump got worked up at his rally at the Ellipse and then attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop a vote certifying Joe Biden’s lection victory, Melania Trump was occupied with a photo shoot, according to a new report by CNN.

“Photos were being taken of rugs and other items in the Executive Residence and the East Wing,” a person familiar with the day’s activities with the first lady told CNN White House Correspondent Kate Bennett.

As photos and videos emerged of the pro-Trump mob clashing with police, breaking windows, and looting and occupying House and Senate offices, Melania Trump was focused on getting the photo shoot completed, Bennett reported.

Members of her staff and the media asked Melania Trump if she had plans to issue “a statement of calm” or a plea to stop the violence, as she had during other times of national crisis, such as protests over the police killing of George Floyd. But Melania Trump indicated she had no such plans, Bennett reported.

“Instead, the first lady was quiet, and has remained so,” reported Bennett, who published a biography of Melania Trump.

“Her disinterest in addressing the country was indicative of being ‘checked out,’” a White House source told Bennett. “She just isn’t in a place mentally or emotionally anymore where she wants to get involved.”

But if Melania Trump wasn’t inclined to take any action, two members of her staff decided they couldn’t stand by. By Wednesday night, her chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, who also has served as the first lady’s closest adviser, speechwriter and spokesperson, and Anna Cristina “Rickie” Niceta, the White House social secretary, submitted their resignations. Bennett reported that both Grisham and Niceta quit their jobs in large part because of Wednesday’s violence.

Melania Trump’s reticence since the Capitol attack is shared by her husband’s oldest three children — Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump. The Trump siblings are usually vociferous users of Twitter and other social media, but three have mostly gone Twitter silent after Wednesday’s violence, which included the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

Each tweeted messages during the siege, calling for the end of the violence, but that’s essentially been it. Ivanka Trump came under fire for her tweet, which addressed the rioters as “American patriots.” The White House senior adviser quickly deleted the tweet, but New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman said Ivanka Trump’s “American patriots” language essentially gave “the rioting mob” permission to act illegally.

Bennett and other biographers have said that Melania Trump often serves as one of Trump’s most trusted and closest advisers. But Bennett said it was Ivanka Trump who went to the president and demanded an emergency meeting on the crisis. Ivanka Trump asked everyone to leave the room while she urged her father to call for an end in the violence, Bennett added.

In the meeting, Ivanka Trump reportedly  told her father he was the only one the rioters would listen to. But the president wasn’t hesitant to make a televised address.

“(President Trump) will do what he wants to do,” a source told Bennett. Multiple sources also told CNN that Trump appeared at times to enjoy watching scenes on TV of the chaos unfolded, Bennett said.