Sen. Dianne Feinstein signals no recollection of being absent for months in disquieting exchange with reporters: 'No, I've been here'



Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was wheeled back into the Senate last week without having fully recovered from what her handlers claim was a bad case of shingles. Although she appeared confused, weary, and sickly, Democrats were nevertheless happy to have her back to vote forward their agenda.

A recent exchange between the 89-year-old senator and reporters, detailed by liberal publications Slate and the Los Angeles Times, revealed that while the California Democrat may be counted present for consequential votes in body, she may not be fully present in mind.

Despite Feinstein's doctor-prescribed "lighter schedule," the senator made time Tuesday afternoon to briefly answer questions posed to her by Slate's Jim Newell and others.

Feinstein was freshly back from being carted over to vote against a Republican bill, which successfully blocked a radical District of Columbia policing law.

Newell asked how she was feeling, and Feinstein responded from her wheelchair, "Oh, I'm feeling fine. I have a problem with the leg."

Responding to a follow-up question from another reporter concerning the nature of the problem, the senator added, "Well, nothing that's anyone concern but mine."

One reporter broached the subject of her May 10 return, asking about the well-wishes she received from her Senate colleagues.

"What have I heard about about what?" asked Feinstein, evidently confused.

"About your return," responded the reporter.

"I haven't been gone," said Feinstein. "You should ... I haven't been gone. I've been working."

Ostensibly giving her an out, one reporter asked, "You've been working from home is what you're saying?"

"No, I've been here," said Feinstein, becoming agitated. "I've been voting. Please, you either know or don't know."

Feinstein's handlers promptly wheeled her away following this disquieting exchange.

TheBlaze previously reported that the senior Democrat was first allegedly diagnosed with shingles on February 26, then hospitalized until March 6. She has reportedly been in recovery ever since.

A statement attributed to Feinstein — concerning her return to Washington that she does not appear to remember — indicated she was "still experiencing temporary side effects from the virus including vision and balance impairments."

The statement made no mention of the senator's well-documented cognitive decline.

An unnamed Californian member of Congress told the San Francisco Chronicle in April 2022, "I have worked with her for a long time and long enough to know what she was like just a few years ago: always in command, always in charge, on top of the details, basically couldn’t resist a conversation where she was driving some bill or some idea. All of that is gone."

The concerned lawmaker added, "She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that’s why my encounter with her was so jarring. Because there was just no trace of that."

It is not only the fact of her past absence that appears to have confounded Feinstein, but her presence as well.

The Huffington Post reported that when Feinstein was first placed in a wheelchair outside the Senate last week, she asked, "Where am I going?"

While Feinstein may have trouble remembering why she is in the Senate, Democrats — who control only 51 of the 100 seats in the Senate and have a one-person advantage on the Senate Judiciary Committee — are sure to provide her with a reminder when the next vote comes up.

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Sickly 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein wheeled into Senate, asks, 'Where am I going?'



Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is not done convalescing after being laid out for over three months with an alleged bad case of the shingles. Nevertheless, after missing 91 votes, she made her return this week so that her Democratic colleagues can resume pushing their agenda.

The sickly 89-year-old former mayor of San Francisco was put into a wheelchair outside the Senate Wednesday, then carted inside.

"Where am I going?" she asked her handlers wearily, reported the Huffington Post.

After saying, "Hi everybody," Feinstein proceeded to cast her first two votes since Feb. 16, helping Glenna Wright-Gallo secure the position of assistant education secretary.

Despite technically being back in the game, NBC News reported that Feinstein still managed to miss two votes on her first day back.

A statement attributed to her said, "I have returned to Washington and am prepared to resume my duties in the Senate. I’m grateful for all the well-wishes over the past couple of months and for the excellent care that I received from my medical team in San Francisco."

Feinstein indicated that notwithstanding unresolved "side effects" affecting her vision and balance, as well as advice from her doctors to adopt a "lighter schedule," she was looking forward to resuming her work on the Judiciary Committee.

The Sacramento Bee stressed that Feinstein's return is important for Democrats, who control only 51 of the 100 seats in the Senate and have a one-person advantage on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Extra to advancing liberal judges, Feinstein may prove instrumental in getting President Joe Biden's labor secretary nominee Julie Su confirmed.

\u201cDianne Feinstein, 89, returns to the Senate after being absent since February and recovering from shingles\u201d
— Manu Raju (@Manu Raju) 1683745397

The senior Democrat was first diagnosed with shingles on February 26, then hospitalized until March 6. She has reportedly been in recovery ever since.

While there was bipartisan concern over Feinstein's fitness to serve, several Democrats expressed concern not with what the illness was doing to their colleague, but what it was doing to their political ambitions.

In April, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) tweeted, "It's time for @SenFeinstein to resign. We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty. While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people."

Khanna suggested that Feinstein's absence meant pro-abortion judges weren't getting approved and called on the public to apply pressure to have the senator step down.

Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota concurred with Khanna, calling it a "dereliction of duty" for Feinstein to remain in the Senate.

Earlier this month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) claimed Feinstein's "refusal to either retire or show up is causing great harm to the judiciary," calling for her to retire.

Some Republicans highlighted Democrats' utilitarian streak and denounced their apparent efforts to strong-arm Feinstein into retiring for short-term gains, reported CNN.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, "She’s a dear friend, and we hope for her speedy recovery and return back to the Senate," claiming that Sen. Chuck Schumer's efforts to replace Feinstein were really "about a handful of judges that you can’t get the votes for."

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said Democrats "should leave her alone. She’s sick. She needs to get well so she can get back to work," adding that "the people that are trying to shove her out the door after her years of service ought to hide their heads in a bag. She’s being treated very shabbily and that really disappoints me."

Some critics reckon Feinstein's pressured return to the Senate this week indicates Democrats' prioritization of power over their colleague's well-being.

Sebastian Gorka, a conservative commentator who serves as deputy assistant to former President Donald Trump, suggested that the images of the sickly senator making her return on Wednesday "is your Democrat Party. Power at all costs. ALL COSTS."

Democrats have not been sheepish about this fact.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said that with Feinstein back, "Anything we do in the Senate that requires a majority is now within reach."

For instance, while ostensibly unwell and addled by memory loss, Feinstein may help Democrats raise the debt limit, which now only requires 51 votes.

Durbin previously stated, "There are things we cannot call for a vote. ... There are measures we cannot debate and vote on until we have the majority advantage."

Now that their power has been restored, Democrats might have the confidence to debate the issues.

The senator has indicated she will not run for re-election in 2024.

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Aide to Democrat Dianne Feinstein fired after saying senator 'cares more about her dog than black people.' So he tapes himself smoking pot in her Capitol Hill office.



The short version of the story Jamarcus Purley told to Latino Rebels is that after working as an aide in California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office on Capitol Hill for five years — and determining that she and the rest of the staff weren't doing enough for black people — he let them know about it no uncertain terms.

On Jan. 24, Purley told the staff during a meeting — among other things — that Feinstein “cares more about her dog than black people," the outlet reported.

What happened next?

Purley noted to the outlet that a number of fellow staffers offered him quiet support for his words, but on Feb. 8, Feinstein fired him for performance issues.

With that, Purley posted his termination letter to Instagram and paid to promote it, the outlet said, adding that Instagram pulled the promotion after it reached 7,000 users since it was about "social issues, elections, or politics."

Then he made one last stand.

Purley told the outlet he "ate some shrooms" then hatched a plan: He told Latino Rebels he ironed his suit and "walked to the Hill. I was standing in front of the Capitol. My heart is racing. I had a joint in my pocket. I’m talking to cops. It made no sense to anyone but me, on shrooms. I put on some trap music. I thought of my family. I looked at my sister — she’s my screensaver on my phone. She puts up with so much s**t as a black woman. I knew no one would ever know the s**t Feinstein does to black people if I didn’t make it impossible to ignore.”

And then, after making it past security and into the Capitol complex, Purley did his best to make sure folks couldn't look away.

“I get to the Senate, the building where I worked for five years. I still had the keys to my office," he told the outlet. "I get in there. I get into the office, and I can’t breathe. I’m on shrooms in an office where white people touch my hair and do racist s**t."

Purley added that he walked into Feinstein's office, which "triggered a screaming white noise sound. I had only been in her actual office like twice in five years, and I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the white noise sound. It was giving me so much anxiety because it sounded like when the cops show up. So then I was like, f*** it. I just gotta do something for 10 minutes, and I can finally leave. So I’d brought my Bose speaker. I used her bathroom, then I go sit at her desk. I turn on my speaker and start the music. I start smoking that joint, an afghani, a heavy indica, because I knew I needed to be calm. I thought about how special my mom and black women would feel seeing me dance to [DeBarge’s 1982 hit “I Like It"] in particular, in a space where they aren’t welcome at all. Then I started the video.”

Here's the clip:

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Anything else?

Purley's background prior to gaining attention for his infamous video is pretty eye-opening as well.

Hailing from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Purley received his undergrad degree from Stanford, the outlet said, adding that during his senior year, he studied abroad at Oxford University in England.

He added to the outlet that he was denied admittance to the Oxford library because he didn’t look like a student.

Purley then went to Harvard where he received a master’s in education policy and management, as well as high praise from faculty and fellow students, the outlet said.

He then applied for an entry-level job as a staff assistant in Feinstein’s office and had a memorable first meeting — for all the wrong reasons: "The first time I met Sen. Feinstein, there were two black dudes in the meeting, and she called me the other black guy’s name ... We look nothing alike. We are two different shades. He wears a beard."

Purley added to the outlet that "multiple white coworkers in my office touched my hair without my permission," repeating that "my coworkers touched my motherf***in’ hair."

He added to the outlet that he was passed over for promotion twice because his supervisors said he didn’t write well enough.

“I had gone to the chief of staff twice because I told them that the way they write alienates black people,” Purley told the outlet. "I mean, I studied English and African American studies — I know what the f*** I’m talking about. They said it’s not my role to tell us what or how to write. It’s my role to reflect the senator’s voice. They kept telling me I work at the pleasure of the senator.”

Then Purley's father died of COVID in December 2020 — and he was finally promoted from staff assistant to legislative correspondent, the outlet said. He would work in that position for the entirety of 2021.

“Working as a legislative correspondent, that’s when it hit me just how little resources black people in California have,” he told Latino Rebels. “The senator wouldn’t allow us to help people directly. People on the Hill are scared of losing their jobs. What made me fearless was this moment: my father was dead. Other black and brown families were losing their loved ones as well and Feinstein didn’t give a f***."

On Jan. 17, 2022, he addressed the issue in a staff meeting — and then did so again the following week when he made the remark about Feinstein caring more about her dog than black people.

MSNBC interviewed Purley last week about what he experienced. The cable network reported that a representative from Feinstein's office said they weren't permitted to speak about personnel issues.

(H/T: Louder With Crowder)