Richard Blum, husband of California Sen. Feinstein, dies

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — Richard Blum, husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 86.

Feinstein announced her husband’s death in a statement Monday morning that said her “heart is broken today.”

She said her husband, a wealthy San Francisco investor, “left things better than he found them” and was devoted to his family. She described his work for the people of the Himalayas and noted he was a longtime friend of the Dalai Lama.

“My husband was my partner and best friend for more than 40 years,” Feinstein said in the statement. “He was by my side for the good times and for the challenges. I am going to miss him terribly.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-california-san-francisco-dianne-feinstein-dalai-lama-6d221a599899179df0eab2fa82b8e4e8

[Cozmo]

1. My condolences to Senator Feinstein.

[Fla Dem]

2. RIP Richard Blum and My Sympathies to Senator Feinstein

[DFW]

3. Losing a partner after 40 years must be devastating

I met my wife 48 years ago, and I would be a useless wreck if I were to lose her.

My deepest condolences to Senator Feinstein.

[AngryOldDem]

4. Condolences.

[hamsterjill]

5. Sorry to learn of this.

My sympathies to the family and friends.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Sorry to see this

He has been a steady presence all those years.

R.I.P.

[iluvtennis]

7. May Richard Blum Rest in Peace and May his Memory be a Blessing.

[Hekate]

8. Condolences to Sen. Feinstein & may her husband's name be remembered for a blessing

[cactusfractal]

9. Condolences. She should now retire. N/t

[AZSkiffyGeek]

10. Wow...

Maybe save the editorializing for an OP? You know, to show some fucking decency?

[TeamProg]

11. Born and raised near San Jose, lived in Calif. nearly my entire life-I'm right with Cactusfractal

Dianne, as one of your long-time supporters and constituents, now would be a good time to retire.

[ChazII]

12. Condolences to her family

as they enter the beginning of grief.

[cbabe]

13. Know the man.

Blum's wife, Senator Dianne Feinstein, received scrutiny due to her husband's government contracts and extensive business dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Blum has denied any wrongdoing.[22] URS Corp, which Blum had a substantial stake in, bought EG&G, a leading provider of technical services and management to the United States military, from The Carlyle Group in 2002; EG&G subsequently won a $600 million defense contract.[3]

Blum and his wife received significant scrutiny and criticism due to his 75% stake in contractor Tutor Perini which received hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in military contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan during the US occupation of those countries.[23][24] Critics have argued that business contracts with the US government awarded to a company controlled by Blum raise a potential conflict-of-interest issue with the voting and policy activities of his wife.[25]

In 2009, Feinstein introduced legislation to provide $25 billion in taxpayer money to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a government agency that had recently awarded her husband's real estate firm, CB Richard Ellis, what The Washington Times called "a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms."[26] The United States Postal Service has entered into an exclusive contract with CB Richard Ellis to sell buildings that currently house post offices.[27]

In 2020, Blum was discovered to have written letters on behalf of unqualified applicants to various UC campus chancellors.[28] The applicants were admitted through student athletics programs, even though, according to a state audit “they possessed little athletic talent.” [29] The audit described Blum's actions as "particularly problematic" as University Regents should not be influencing admissions decisions.[30]

From Wikipedia

[SouthBayDem]

14. I missed this news earlier.

Had not heard it in KCBS or KQED, which devoted a lot of local news coverage to the Russia Ukraine War. I first learned of this on the California Politics Reddit.

Blum was a donor to UC Berkeley (which has the Blum Center for Developing Economies) and the University of San Francisco.