At a memorial for Dianne Feinstein on Thursday, Joe Biden praised the late senator as a dear friend and a woman of deep integrity who fought to protect what was important to the US: freedom, civil liberties, security and the constitution. “She was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons,” Biden said in recorded video remarks played at the memorial outside San Francisco city hall. Roughly 1,500 invited guests were at the private service, where two large screens showed photos of Feinstein over the years. Guests seated in white chairs sweltered on an unseasonably hot day as the US navy’s Blue Angels flight team soared overhead, occasionally interrupting speakers with the roar of their jets. The flight demonstration squadron is in the city as part of Fleet Week, an annual San Francisco celebration started by Feinstein in 1981 when she was mayor. The vice-president Kamala Harris and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer were among those delivering remarks, along with Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano. …

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