Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein was the focus of an anonymously-sourced New Yorker piece Thursday that suggested her cognitive decline.
Quoting several current and former Senate aides, some of whom worked for other senators, the article painted Feinstein as a formerly-great legislator who had lost her fastball. Beginning with a recent tech hearing during which Feinstein appeared to ask Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey the same question twice, the piece went on to cite aides who said short-term memory lapses were not uncommon for her. (RELATED: Hot Mic Reportedly Catches Dianne Feinstein Comment About Amy Coney Barrett’s Religion)
.@JaneMayerNYer “they say her short-term memory has grown so poor that she often forgets she has been briefed on a topic, accusing her staff of failing to do so just after they have. They describe Feinstein as forgetting what she has said & getting upset.” https://t.co/nAQAF7CFFg
— Michael Luo (@michaelluo) December 10, 2020
One aide to another senator described what he called a “Kabuki” meeting in which Feinstein’s staff tried to steer her through a proposed piece of legislation that she protested was “just words” which “make no sense.”
— Michael Luo (@michaelluo) December 10, 2020
Feinstein’s staff has said that sometimes she seems herself, and other times unreachable. “The staff is in such a bad position,” a former Senate aide who still has business in Congress said. “They have to defend her and make her seem normal.”
— Michael Luo (@michaelluo) December 10, 2020
According to the piece, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was concerned enough about Feinstein that he sent a former aide to keep Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings under control.
According to several sources, Chuck Schumer was so worried that Dianne Feinstein would mismanage Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings that he installed a trusted former aide to make sure the hearings didn’t go off the rails.https://t.co/jniLVY96qA
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) December 10, 2020
The theatrics that had marked the 2018 confirmation hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh were largely absent from Barrett’s hearings, and in a moment of bipartisan respect, Feinstein embraced Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham. She thanked him for holding the hearings, and was immediately criticized for consorting with Graham.
Democrat Dianne Feinstein’s praise of her GOP colleague Lindsey Graham, which she followed with a friendly hug, is stirring outrage on the left and prompting calls for her to step down as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. https://t.co/dBRK9M5poY
— The Hill (@thehill) October 16, 2020
Schumer also reportedly encouraged Feinstein to step aside from her leadership role after the hearings were over and Barrett was confirmed. She did step down, just three weeks after the election, but some still thought that Feinstein’s willingness to embrace Graham and her failure to stall Barrett’s confirmation were the events that prompted Thursday’s article.
Remarkable how quickly the liberal knives came out for Dianne Feinstein, after she displayed a basic show of collegiality to her Senate colleague & acknowledged the obvious – that Amy Coney Barrett is qualified for scotus https://t.co/a2UaYfDNm7
— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) December 10, 2020
This details how @SenFeinstein, a strong woman who for all her faults tried to bring a modicum of civility to a polarized Judiciary Committee, was taken down as the Committee’s top Dem by the likes of @SenSchumer & @brianefallon. What hypocrites! (1/5)https://t.co/VO9bcD7xdb
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 10, 2020
Curiously, the media maintains that Feinstein was declining mentally for years but neither reporters nor members noted it before her recent election.https://t.co/Cy0wqXzp4f It was only after she hugged Graham after the Barrett hearing that she was declared effectively incompetent
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) December 10, 2020
Does anyone think the Dems’ age-shaming of Feinstein would be happening if she hadn’t made the unforgivable mistake of hugging Lindsey Graham? Ironic considering all the concerns about Biden’s cognitive capacity… or maybe it’s strategic. Hello Kamala! https://t.co/v04QJMalvT
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) December 10, 2020
Biden’s cognitive decline is much more obvious than Feinstein’s. Left-wing media is simply out to destroy her because she gave Lindsey Graham a hug. https://t.co/biHldEIOBc
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 10, 2020
What fascinates me about the knives out for Feinstein is it’s at least partially driven by people who think like this.
Feinstein’s hug of Graham hurt them with zero down ballot voters. Dems challenges down ballot had a lot to do with being too extreme. Not too friendly to R’s. https://t.co/5moWHC5TNN
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) December 10, 2020