“On the Holmes Front,” with Frank Holmes
Everybody in Washington is asking the same question, “When will the Democrat with the secret senility problem retire?”
But they’re not talking about Joe Biden — because his cognitive decline is no secret.
That’s more like public information.
They are, however, talking about California Senator Dianne Feinstein.
A new effort is afoot to replace the senator with a younger, more liberal Democrat, and her opponents think they’ve found the perfect opportunity.
Joe Biden is considering appointing Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, as a foreign ambassador… and Biden is hoping he’ll take Feinstein with him. Blum is an 85-year-old investor who wouldn’t mind taking a post in Paris or Vienna, and Democrats would love to unload Feinstein in the process.
Feinstein has two problems — two reasons that Democrats want her out now.
First, insiders say she’s “seriously struggling” with cognitive decline.
At 87 years old, Feinstein is the oldest member of the U.S. Senate. What Strom Thurmond used to be, she is now. Several sources told the New Yorker in December that Feinstein has enormous memory gaps. She doesn’t just forget briefings — she forgets that she was ever briefed in the first place… and then she yells at staffers for not informing her.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly had a series of discussions with her about stepping down from the Senate, but each conversation they had, she forgot.
“It was like Groundhog Day, but with the pain fresh each time,” one of the sources said.
The embarrassing rumors got so loud that Feinstein had to address the topic publicly. “I don’t feel my cognitive abilities have diminished,” she told the Los Angeles Times late last year, although she admitted occasional forgetfulness.
Then there’s the other problem: Although she’s a left-wing Democrat, she’s not far-left enough for the state of California or the Democratic Party’s base.
Feinstein, who has served in the Senate since 1992, got into trouble when a video surfaced of her exchanging a pleasant word with Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Being friendly with a Republican was too much for the base, which exploded in rage on social media.
The left also thought Feinstein, who then led the Senate Judiciary Committee, treated Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett too decently. They thought the seat was stolen, and they wanted blood — Feinstein never gave it to them.
“I think civility and bipartisanship mean something,” she said.
And her fellow Democrats exacted revenge.
The California Democratic Party didn’t endorse Feinstein during her 2018 race, when she faced a younger, more left-wing challenger.
The party would like a younger, more “diverse” senator to take her gavel, and at least one politician thinks it might get him out of hot water at home. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is facing an imminent recall election, has promised to appoint a black woman to fill Feinstein’s vacant seat, if she steps down.
Newsom thinks he can stay in office by pandering to the left-wing faction on Feinstein’s seat: If he can pressure the unpopular senator to step down and replace her with a black female, he can score political points when he needs them most.
There’s also the problem of Richard Blum himself. Last May, the FBI investigated her husband for using inside information to shelter their hefty wealth before the COVID-19 outbreak. Blum sold more than $1 million of stock in a biotech company after Feinstein attended a congressional briefing on the coronavirus outbreak.
That kept them from losing their fortune when the stock market tanked — and the company, Allogene Therapeutics, along with it.
The timing seemed more than suspicious.
As for Feinstein, she has made it clear: she’s not leaving the Senate until her term ends in 2024.
She told the press she wouldn’t give up the seat she’s held for 28 years even if her husband is living on another continent.
When the San Francisco Chronicle asked her if the rumors were true about trading D.C. for an exotic European post, Feinstein couldn’t have been clearer. “No, no, no,” she said.
Feinstein said she’s “absolutely” going to serve out the rest of her term, no matter what.
She’ll be 91 when the term ends — and she could always run for reelection.
Feinstein may have known the plans Democrats have to nudge Biden aside at the right moment and decided she’s sinking her claws into power as long as she can.
And that’s nothing but bad news for the Democrats.
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”