STONEWALLED

McConnell’s $226K Gatekeeper Cornered Outside Senator’s Home

The 84-year-old senator has not appeared publicly or been seen speaking in nearly two months as aides remain tight-lipped about his condition.

GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell’s chief of staff stonewalled a reporter’s questions outside the ailing politician’s residence after he was reportedly discharged from a rehabilitation facility on Thursday after being hospitalized for nearly two months.

A healthcare worker was also spotted at McConnell’s Washington, D.C., home, but neither the health provider nor the senator’s top aide, Terry Carmack—who reportedly earns $226,850 a year—answered any questions, according to political correspondent Nicholas A. Ballasy, who shared the footage to his social media channels.

On Friday, McConnell’s operations director, Melissa Bennett, refused to say why the senator hadn’t released a video in the nearly 60 days since he was taken from his home by ambulance. Nor would she answer questions about the state of his health after visiting her boss’s home.

In another new video, shared by independent journalist Desirée Townsend, boxes for a pair of “MCombo lift recliners” were spotted through the 84-year-old senator’s briefly open front door. A lift recliner is a mechanized chair designed for elderly, mobility-impaired, and post-surgical patients. The chairs tilt forward to help users stand upright and can also be used to recline.

The Daily Beast has reached out to McConnell’s office for comment.

McConnell’s condition remains a mystery. Though colleagues have reported speaking to him about policy, and three statements purportedly written by him have been issued, he has not appeared in public, or been filmed speaking, since prior to his hospitalization on June 14.

Two photographs of the smiling Kentucky senator were released with his wife, Elaine Chao, in nearly identical poses propped up in a hospital bed in jeans and a button-down shirt without an IV.

Video footage broadcast by CNN showed emergency responders loading a possibly unconscious McConnell into an ambulance on a stretcher outside his home on the morning of June 14. The senator reportedly suffered a significant medical emergency and required CPR after a heart attack.

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On Thursday, a statement attributed to the senator noted: “I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home. Elaine and I are grateful for the many well wishes and support from friends, colleagues, and Kentuckians, and for the attentive care I’ve received from excellent doctors, nurses, therapists, and hospital staff.”

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