Dianne Feinstein: oldest serving senator says she ‘hasn’t been gone’ despite absence

The 89-year-old legislator insisted she had been working when questioned by reporters on Tuesday after being gone for three months

A bizarre exchange with reporters has raised new questions about the return of Dianne Feinstein, California’s senior senator who has been absent from Washington for months due to shingles.

Jim Newell, a reporter for Slate, ran into Feinstein shortly after the 89-year-old lawmaker voted on the Senate floor on Tuesday. When he and another journalist asked Feinstein how she has been received by her colleagues since returning to Washington, Feinstein appeared to insist that she had never left.