Feinstein focuses on Congress, gives daughter power of attorney on court matters

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she gave her daughter power of attorney to handle two court cases concerning her late husband so she could focus on her job in Washington.

The California Democratic senator gave Katherine Feinstein the POA in July, letting her file multiple lawsuits seeking money from the estate of the senator’s late husband, Richard Blum, who died last year.

Mrs. Feinstein has been under pressure by some Democrats to resign from her Senate seat because of her physical and mental condition at age 90. 

“I’ve asked my daughter to handle the case. And it’s so I can focus on what I’m doing back here in Washington,” the senator told the San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday. “It’s a difficult time for me, and so I really don’t have time for other things.”

She initially told the paper she “gave no permission to do anything,” but contacted the paper to clarify the situation. 

“I’ve entrusted my daughter to handle those things that I believe she can,” she added. “And she’s very smart and if it doesn’t work, we’ll change it. But so far, so good.”

Mrs. Feinstein is suing the trustees of a fund set up by her late husband for failure to pay her millions of dollars that were designated for her. She’s seeking removal of the trustees, Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck and Verett Mims, for breach of fiduciary duties and is claiming elder abuse for refusing to provide life insurance money she needs to cover her medical costs. 

The senator was hospitalized in February with shingles and spent months away from Congress recovering from her illness. The suit says that she “incurred significant medical expenses” and that “the purported trustees have refused to make distributions to reimburse Senator Feinstein’s medical expenses.”

Steven Braccini, the attorney representing Mr. Klein and Mr. Scholvinck, rejected the claim.

“My clients are perplexed by this filing,” Mr. Braccini said in a statement. “Richard Blum’s trust has never denied any disbursement to Sen. Feinstein, let alone for medical expenses.”

Mrs. Feinstein announced this year she will not run for another term in 2024.