Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been confirmed by her spokesperson to have served as a witness for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) when signing over power of attorney to her daughter, Katherine Feinstein.
The July document was recently revealed as part of ongoing lawsuits involving the Feinstein family against the trustees of Richard Blum’s estate.
While the spokesperson declined to provide further details on the matter, it is clear that Pelosi played an important role in this process.
SFGate was the first to report that former Speaker Pelosi had served as one of two witnesses in Sen. Feinstein’s transfer of legal power to her daughter on July 23. Pelosi attested “under penalty of perjury” that Feinstein appeared to be “of sound mind and memory” at the time, and not acting under any form of coercion or influence.
This attestation raised questions from Dr. Laura Mosqueda, a tenured professor at USC Keck School of Medicine who specializes in elderly care, as it was given just two months prior to Feinstein’s passing away.
“At the base of all of this is: Did Sen. Feinstein have the capacity to consent to this? That’s my big question,” Mosqueda said and wondered if Pelosi had personally observed an assessment of Feinstein’s cognitive capacity prior to signing the declaration that the senator was of “sound mind and memory.”
“If [Pelosi] happened to be over there visiting Sen. Feinstein at the time when they were needing to enact this, and she was doing it as a favor because she was over there, I guess I could see it,” the professor added. “You do have to do a bit of twisting in order to see it in the most positive light possible.”
Evidence suggests that, prior to her death, Sen. Feinstein was not of sound mind and memory, and former Speaker Pelosi was aware of her cognitive decline. Feinstein herself told a reporter from the Chronicle in early September that she “gave no permission to do anything” with regards to her legal affairs.
However, shortly afterwards she admitted that she had asked her daughter to handle the case so she could focus on matters in Washington due to the difficult times.
SFGate raised questions regarding the role of Nancy Corinne Prowda, former Speaker Pelosi’s eldest daughter, in Sen. Feinstein’s return to D.C. in May after a several-month absence due to multiple health issues.
It was noted that Pelosi and Feinstein had been personal friends when their families lived across the street from each other in San Francisco; Prowda served as a caretaker and chaperone for the senator who had become debilitated and wheelchair-bound.
In an August interview with Politico, Pelosi downplayed any related concerns about Feinstein’s health and wellbeing.
“She’s doing OK, she’s doing OK,” Pelosi told the reporter — “less than convincingly,” in the reporter’s view — and noted that “She’ll be able to do what she needs to do to vote and serve on the Appropriations Committee” as she proceeded to denounce a supposed “sexist double standard” in which the health of female politicians is sharply scrutinized to a far greater extent than male politicians.
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