Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s daughter filed an elder abuse report in a California court in an attempt to protect the elderly California Democrat, according to a bombshell report by The San Francisco Chronicle.
In the early August filing, Katherine Feinstein, used her power of attorney that her mother signed away on July 23 to accuse the co-trustees of a trust in the name of Richard Blum — Dianne’s late, wealthy husband — of financial elder abuse in a court filing.
“In the Aug. 8 filing, Katherine Feinstein made the striking allegation that Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck and Verett Mims, who control the disputed trust, are committing financial elder abuse against the 90-year-old senator. California’s elder abuse laws cover all state residents age 65 and older,” SFGate reported on Tuesday.
The report continued —
In the filing, Katherine alleges that the co-trustees didn’t fund a trust her mother is the sole income beneficiary of and that they have not made “required distributions” to the senator since Blum’s death in 2022. Katherine, Feinstein’s daughter from a previous marriage, also alleges that the co-trustees are purposely slow-rolling payments to the senator because they “intend to benefit Richard Blum’s [biological] daughters, who stand to inherit millions of dollars that should go to Senator Feinstein if the Trustees never make the required distributions to her.”
Kathrine is asking the court, among other things, to suspend the co-trustees “pending a decision on whether to remove them” to “prevent further loss and injury to Senator Feinstein.”
The Horn News reported that daughter Kathrine had taken over limited power of attorney on August 4.
The accusations of financial elder abuse raises alarms over the mental health of Feinstein, who remains a sitting U.S. senator.
The lawsuit was filed the same day the 90-year-old Democratic senator was rushed to the hospital after a serious fall. Feinstein has been seen disoriented and confused while in the senate in recent months after she first returned from a separate hospital stay. At times she has been confined to a wheelchair, and her fellow Democrats are suspected to be controlling her votes.
An attorney for the co-trustees responded to an inquiry by SFGate by accusing Katherine of being the abuser.
“The trustees have acted ethically and appropriately at all times; the same cannot be said for Katherine Feinstein,” Steven P. Braccini wrote Tuesday about the lawsuit. “This filing is unconscionable. The trustees have always respected Senator Feinstein and always will. But this has nothing to do with her needs and everything to do with her daughter’s avarice.”
Feinstein’s staff said that despite serious health concerns, she plans to stay in office until the end of her term in January 2025.