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TOPLINE Aside from a smattering of praise from colleagues on the
Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the Democratic party remained
mostly silent on Thursday after a New Yorker report called into
question the mental fitness of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and
alleged internal concern about the 87-year-old’s place in Congress.

The New Yorker report, citing anonymous sources familiar with the
situation, suggests some in the party no longer view Feinstein as
able to serve effectively (Feinstein’s office did not respond to
questions about the report).

The report describes behind-the-scenes incidents like Feinstein
reportedly forgetting she’s been briefed on a topic because of poor short-term memory, becoming frustrated at an inability to keep up,
and even seeming to blank on a conversation with Sen. Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) about stepping down from her position
as the most senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Clearly addressing the report, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.) during a Thursday morning meeting with the committee
spoke at length about Feinstein—who was present, but did not make remarks—praising her as “one of the most decent people I’ve ever met
in any endeavor I’ve ever been involved in.”

Graham seemed to chalk up the discussion over Feinstein’s age and
fitness to serve in Congress to her civility toward Republicans,
which drew ire among Democrats when she thanked Graham for
“fairness” after the Amy Coney Barrett hearings that have come to be perceived as a botched job among the party (Feinstein announced a
month later that she’s giving up her position as ranking Democrat on
the committee in the next Congress).



Outside of the meeting room, however, public support for Feinstein
from fellow Democrats has been sparse, with none making public
comments in her defense and zero of the eight other Democratic
members of the Judiciary Committee or representatives for Schumer
offering any statements when asked by Forbes (a spokesperson for
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy said he had not yet been briefed on the
situation while the media team for Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon
Whitehouse said he will not be commenting).

KEY BACKGROUND
It’s difficult to know exactly how to interpret the silence on
Capitol Hill, as some former aides for Feinstein told The New Yorker
that rumors of her cognitive decline—which hit the mainstream after
the senator appeared to forget what question she asked and repeat
her words verbatim at a Nov. 17 tech hearing—are being blown out of proportion. They also pointed out that diminished faculties are a
systemic issue in Congress, and there have been multiple male
senators who were known to be unfit for office by the end of their
careers. “She’s still smarter and quicker than at least a third of
the other members,” one of Feinstein’s former aides told the
magazine. Nonetheless, the article suggests that party leadership
have lost faith in Feinstein’s ability to hold powerful positions in
the Senate, with Schumer reportedly hiring an aide to watch over
Feinstein’s handling of the Barrett confirmation for fear it could
go off the rails like the hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh in 2018, during which Feinstein was criticized for not
immediately alerting her party or the FBI of sexual assault
allegations from Christine Blasey Ford.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/12/10/democrats- mostly-silent-after-report-raises-questions-about-dianne- feinsteins-mental-fitness/?sh=3e74bbb5c7be

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