Rep. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told the San Francisco Chronicle‘s editorial board on Tuesday that Hillary Clinton wasn’t able to accomplish much during her nine-year tenure as a U.S. Senator.
“Golly, I forget what bills she’s been part of or authored. I didn’t really come prepared to discuss this,” Feinstein said in a meeting with the Chronicle’s editorial board to discuss her new water plan for the drought-stricken California. “But she’s been a good senator. There are things outside of bills that you can do, and I know that she’s done them for her state.”
Feinstein explained that because Clinton had served for such a short time – she served for nearly a decade, from 2001-2009 – she wasn’t able to gain the seniority necessary in the Senate to get things done.
“I couldn’t have done that as a freshman (senator) or even as a sophomore,” Feinstein said, referring to her own five-year-long investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogation practices.“She was never there long enough to achieve the degree of seniority that affords her the ability to do more.”
After some prompting from an aide, Feinstein mentioned that Clinton helped start a health insurance program for children during her tenure as first lady.
“I should have a list,” she said. “Get on Google.”
Feinstein, who has endorsed Clinton, added that she doesn’t want Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race.
“He believes that he has an ability to overtake Hillary. We’ll see,” she said. “He’s a realist. I don’t think he’ll want Donald Trump to be elected president. He (Sanders) is a good man.”
