Sen. Dianne Feinstein has ceded power of attorney to her daughter to fight two intra-family lawsuits, as she faces calls to resign her seat in Congress over questions of her cognitive abilities.
The California Democratic senator, 90, is the oldest congressional lawmaker, and multiple medical issues kept her away from Washington for months earlier this year.
Ms. Feinstein’s daughter, 66-year-old Katherine Feinstein, is the senator’s only child and a former San Francisco Superior Court judge who now serves as President of the San Francisco Fire Commission.
According to a report from The New York Times, the younger Feinstein is in a legal battle, and filed two lawsuits on behalf of her mother over the estate of the senator’s late husband Richard Blum, a wealthy banker.
The first dispute is with Blum’s three daughters, related to the ownership of a luxury beach house owned by Sen. Feinstein.
The paper reported that the other lawsuit Katherine Feinstein filed relates to Blum’s life insurance, which the younger Feinstein claims her mother needs to cover her increasing medical costs. Additionally, she disputes the appointment of two trustees: Michael Klein, a longtime attorney for Blum, and Marc Scholvinck, a business partner of Blum’s.
The suit says that Sen. Feinstein has “incurred significant medical expenses” and that despite Mr. Blum’s “intent to support his spouse after his death, the purported trustees have refused to make distributions to reimburse Senator Feinstein’s medical expenses.”
Mr. Klein and Mr. Scholvnick’s attorney, Steven Braccini, rejected the claim, saying Blum’s estate has never withheld any requested funds and that Sen. Feinstein’s daughter filed the lawsuit out of personal interests, not out of concern for her mother.
“My clients are perplexed by this filing,” Mr. Braccini told the paper. “Richard Blum’s trust has never denied any disbursement to Senator Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.”
The Washington Times reached out to Sen. Feinstein’s office but did not immediately hear back.
The elder Feinstein was hospitalized in February for complications due to shingles. She was released to her San Francisco home and spent two months recovering from her illness.
Since her return to Capitol Hill, she is pushed in a wheelchair by a staffer and has experienced public cognitive lapses.
Last week, Ms. Feinstein needed to be prompted several times by a colleague and staffers to say “aye” when it was her turn to cast her vote on the $831 billion defense appropriations bill during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.
High-profile California Democrats, including Reps. Adam Schiff, Barbara Lee and Katie Porter, announced their intention to run for her seat after she publicly declared earlier this year she would not run for reelection.
However, as her physical and mental condition has publicly declined, some have called for her to step down before the election and have California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, appoint her replacement.
Two years ago, though, after choosing Sen. Alex Padilla to fill an empty seat, Mr. Newsom pledged to appoint a Black woman for any future seats, which many thought would be Ms. Lee.
Mr. Newsom made the commitment before Ms. Lee announced her run for Senate, before former Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw her support behind Mr. Schiff and before some of the governor’s Democratic allies staffed up for Ms. Porter.
