DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Name: Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein
Born: 22 June 1933 San Francisco, California
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator
from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of
the Democratic Party. Senator Feinstein holds a number of "firsts"; she was the
first female President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's
first and only female mayor, the first woman to serve in the Senate from
California, one of two first female Jewish senators, the first woman to serve on
the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the first woman to chair the Rules and
Administration committee of that body.
Feinstein was born Dianne Emiel Goldman in San Francisco to Betty Rosenburg,
a former model, and Leon Goldman, a nationally renowned surgeon who was the
first Jewish person made tenured physician at the UCSF Medical Center in San
Francisco. Feinstein's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from
Poland, while her maternal grandparents, who were of the Russian Orthodox faith,
left St. Petersburg, Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution; Feinstein's
maternal grandfather was an imperial army officer who was a convert from
Judaism to Christianity. Feinstein attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High
School and was given a Catholic religious education, but also attended Hebrew
school and was confirmed in the Jewish faith at the age of thirteen, having said
that she has "always considered [herself] Jewish".
Feinstein has two sisters, Lynne Kennedy and Yvonne Banks. She received her B.A.
degree in history in 1955 from Stanford University. In 1956, she married Jack
Berman, a colleague in the San Francisco District Attorney's office. They were
divorced three years later. Their daughter, Katherine Feinstein Mariano (b. 1957),
is a superior court judge in San Francisco. Berman later became a judge; he died
in 2002. In 1962, shortly after starting her career in politics, she married
neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein, who died of colon cancer in 1978. In 1980, she
married Richard C. Blum, an investment banker. She is adamantly Pro-Israel and a
member of AIPAC.
Feinstein has received scrutiny for husband Richard Blum's extensive business
dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Critics
have argued that Feinstein's support of policies that may benefit her husband
may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest. Suburban newspaper
Metroactive reported in 2007 that Feinstein's husband holds large investments in
companies that have won large government contracts without competitive bidding.
In April 2007, Feinstein's office denied there was a conflict of interest and
stated that her departure from the subcommittee had nothing to do with the
reports in the Metro weeklies.
As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and Fedspending.org, three
corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in
stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 2003, Feinstein was ranked the fifth wealthiest senator, with an estimated
net worth of $26 million. By 2005 her net worth had increased to between $43
million and $99 million. Her 347-page financial disclosure statement —
characterized by the San Francisco Chronicle as "nearly the size of a phonebook"
— draws clear lines between her assets and those of her husband, with many of
her assets in blind trusts.
Name: Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein
Born: 22 June 1933 San Francisco, California
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator
from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of
the Democratic Party. Senator Feinstein holds a number of "firsts"; she was the
first female President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco's
first and only female mayor, the first woman to serve in the Senate from
California, one of two first female Jewish senators, the first woman to serve on
the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the first woman to chair the Rules and
Administration committee of that body.
Feinstein was born Dianne Emiel Goldman in San Francisco to Betty Rosenburg,
a former model, and Leon Goldman, a nationally renowned surgeon who was the
first Jewish person made tenured physician at the UCSF Medical Center in San
Francisco. Feinstein's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from
Poland, while her maternal grandparents, who were of the Russian Orthodox faith,
left St. Petersburg, Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution; Feinstein's
maternal grandfather was an imperial army officer who was a convert from
Judaism to Christianity. Feinstein attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart High
School and was given a Catholic religious education, but also attended Hebrew
school and was confirmed in the Jewish faith at the age of thirteen, having said
that she has "always considered [herself] Jewish".
Feinstein has two sisters, Lynne Kennedy and Yvonne Banks. She received her B.A.
degree in history in 1955 from Stanford University. In 1956, she married Jack
Berman, a colleague in the San Francisco District Attorney's office. They were
divorced three years later. Their daughter, Katherine Feinstein Mariano (b. 1957),
is a superior court judge in San Francisco. Berman later became a judge; he died
in 2002. In 1962, shortly after starting her career in politics, she married
neurosurgeon Bertram Feinstein, who died of colon cancer in 1978. In 1980, she
married Richard C. Blum, an investment banker. She is adamantly Pro-Israel and a
member of AIPAC.
Feinstein has received scrutiny for husband Richard Blum's extensive business
dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Critics
have argued that Feinstein's support of policies that may benefit her husband
may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest. Suburban newspaper
Metroactive reported in 2007 that Feinstein's husband holds large investments in
companies that have won large government contracts without competitive bidding.
In April 2007, Feinstein's office denied there was a conflict of interest and
stated that her departure from the subcommittee had nothing to do with the
reports in the Metro weeklies.
As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and Fedspending.org, three
corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in
stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In 2003, Feinstein was ranked the fifth wealthiest senator, with an estimated
net worth of $26 million. By 2005 her net worth had increased to between $43
million and $99 million. Her 347-page financial disclosure statement —
characterized by the San Francisco Chronicle as "nearly the size of a phonebook"
— draws clear lines between her assets and those of her husband, with many of
her assets in blind trusts.