Longtime US Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at 90 after decades of public service

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – US Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a decades-long senator who smashed gender barriers and overcame stalwart opposition from the American intelligence community to publish a bombshell report on the CIA's post-9/11 torture practices, has died, her office confirmed Friday.

The Democratic senator died Thursday evening at her home in Washington, D.C., her office said in a statement.

"Senator Feinstein never backed away from a fight for what was just and right. At the same time, she was always willing to work with anyone, even those she disagreed with, if it meant bettering the lives of Californians or the betterment of our nation," it said.

"There are few women who can be called senator, chairman, mayor, wife, mom, and grandmother. Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state," it added.

Feinstein, who at 90 was the oldest living senator, had been suffering from long-running health issues that had sidelined her for several months earlier this year when it was revealed that she was recovering from a bout of shingles.

In recent year, however, Feinstein's mental faculties had repeatedly been cast into doubt when she appeared visibly confused during public events. The period marked a sharp departure from the sharp wit that defined much of her three decades in Congress.

It was under Feinstein's leadership that the Senate Intelligence Committee authored its landmark assessment of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation program," which was published in part in 2014.

The more than 500-page publicly published portion of the report was nothing short of a full-scale indictment that lambasted the intelligence agency for its actions, as well as its efforts to minimize the extent of the abuses by lying about the program’s effectiveness.

“CIA personnel, aided by two outside contractors, decided to initiate a program of indefinite secret detention and the use of brutal interrogation techniques in violation of US law, treaty obligations, and our values,” Feinstein wrote in the report.

“It is my personal conclusion that, under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured. I also believe that the conditions of confinement and the use of authorized and unauthorized interrogation and conditioning techniques were cruel, inhuman, and degrading. I believe the evidence of this is overwhelming and incontrovertible,” she added.

The report brought to light systemic, widespread abuses perpetrated by CIA officers, including the now infamous practice of waterboarding, placing detainees in extended periods of stress positions, sleep deprivation, and punitive forced rectal feeding and rehydration.

Feinstein was a vocal advocate for US gun control legislation and played a key role on a since-lapsed assault rifle ban.

US President Joe Biden hailed Feinstein as a “true trailblazer,” and a “cherished friend” to himself and his wife.

“There’s no better example of her skillful legislating and sheer force of will than when she turned passion into purpose and led the fight to ban assault weapons. Dianne made her mark on everything from national security to the environment to protecting civil liberties,” said Biden.

“Often the only woman in the room, Dianne was a role model for so many Americans – a job she took seriously by mentoring countless public servants, many of whom now serve in my administration,” he added.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to appoint an interim senator to fill the role until the 2024 general elections when several prominent Democratic candidates are set to compete for the seat. Feinstein had previously said she would not seek re-election.

Her seat is near certain to go to a Democrat with Republicans repeatedly failing to make any headway in state-wide polls in recent years.