Feinstein cannot function without an army of staffers.
Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein’s health problems are much worse than what was previously disclosed to the public.
89-year-old Dianne Feinstein earlier this month returned to the senate in a wheelchair.
Feinstein finally returned to the senate after a 3-month absence due to shingles.
The California Senator’s diminished condition, red droopy eye and paralyzed face shocked the public.
WATCH:
Dianne Feinstein, 89, returns to the Senate after being absent since February and recovering from shingles pic.twitter.com/FcMJr7ddni
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 10, 2023
Feinstein is suffering from several complications due to shingles (supposedly), including facial paralysis, memory loss, vision and balance impairments and swelling of the brain.
According to a new report by The New York Times, Feinstein relies on an army of aides in order to carry out her duties.
Staff members wheel Feinstein into the senate chamber, help her get situated in a chair and whisper in her ear in between votes.
“They push her wheelchair, remind her how and when she should vote and step in to explain what is happening when she grows confused. They stay with her in the cloak room just off the Senate floor, where Ms. Feinstein has taken to waiting her turn to vote, then appearing in the doorway to register her “aye” or “nay” from the outer edge of the chamber.” according to The Times.
Staff members also try to hide Feinstein from photographers because they don’t want the public to see her deteriorating condition.
This is elder abuse.
The New York Times reported:
When Senator Dianne Feinstein entered a hearing room this month to reclaim her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee after a monthslong absence, she was accompanied by a phalanx of aides.
Two staff members settled the 89-year-old California Democrat into a chair at the dais as the assembled senators greeted their ailing colleague with a round of applause. When Ms. Feinstein spoke — during a vote on one of several of President Biden’s judicial nominees whose approval had awaited her return — she appeared to read from a piece of paper handed to her by a female aide seated behind her.
“I ask to be recorded as voting in person on the three nominees considered earlier, Mr. Chairman, and I vote aye now,” she said.
The aide knelt next to her and whispered into her ear in between votes — popping up repeatedly from her seat to confer with the senator, at one point clearing away the paper Ms. Feinstein had read from and presenting her with a folder that appeared to contain background information about the nominees.
The scene was typical of Ms. Feinstein’s day-to-day existence on Capitol Hill, where she is surrounded by a retinue of staff members who serve not only the roles of typical congressional aides — advising on policy, keeping tabs on the schedule, drafting statements and speeches — but also as de facto companions to a senator whose age, frail health and memory issues make it difficult for her to function alone.
