Joe Biden sexual assault allegation: Difference between revisions

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A request that this article title be changed to Tara Reade sexual assault allegation is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed.

In March 2020, Tara Reade alleged that Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2020 presidential election, had sexually assaulted her sometime in spring 1993, in a Capitol Hill office building when she was a staff assistant in his Senate office. Previously, in April 2019, without mentioning any sexual assault, she had alleged he touched her neck and shoulders, and commented on her legs, in ways that made her feel uncomfortable.

In April 2020, she said she told Biden's Senate staff in 1993 about harassment. The former staff members named by Reade said that they did not receive a complaint from her. On May 1, 2020, Biden addressed Reade's claims and said "they aren't true".

This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

From December 1992 to August 1993, Tara Reade, then 29, was a staff assistant in Joe Biden's Senate office in Washington, D.C., with responsibility for the office's intern program and mail delivery.^[1] She is a writer^[2] residing in Nevada County, California,^[3] and has used the aliases Alexandra Tara Reade, Tara Reade Moulton, Tara McCabe, Alexandra Tara McCabe, and Alexandra McCabe.^[4][5][3][6] In early 2020, she worked part time with families with special-needs children in Nevada County.^[7][8][9] She earned a law degree from Seattle University School of Law in 2004^[10] and as of May 2020 had not taken any state's bar examination.^[8][1] She works as a consultant to nonprofit organizations^{[1][11][5][12]}

In 2009, Reade attributed her past departure from Washington, D.C., to moving to the Midwestern United States with a boyfriend.^[9] In 2018, she wrote that she departed Washington, D.C., to become an actress and artist, due to being disillusioned with the American government's "xenophobia" towards Russia.^[9] She said she voted for Barack Obama and in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, supported Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson and Bernie Sanders.^[8][13]

In a The Union article Reade provided documents that showed that she worked for Biden from December 1992 to August 1993.^[14] She alleged during that time Biden "used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck".^[14][15] Reade also told of an incident where staff argued^{[dubious – discuss][who?]} over whether she should serve drinks at an event.^[14] Reade said that she felt Biden wanted her to do so because he liked her legs.^[14][16] Reade said she complained to Senate personnel, but Biden's office learned about her complaints.^[14][16] She stated: "My life was hell ... this was about power and control ... [after my departure] I couldn't get a job on the Hill".^[14] According to the article, Reade "didn't consider the acts toward her sexualization. She instead used an analogy of being a lamp", that was displayed because it was "pretty", and then discarded when "too bright".^[14][17][15] Reade says she wants Biden to acknowledge and apologize for having "changed the trajectory" of her life.^[14]

The Union published a column by Reade where she alleged that her supervisor had informed her that Biden wanted her to "serve drinks at a [sic] event" because he thought she was "pretty" and also "liked" her legs, but a senior aide intervened to stop Reade from having to do so, continuing an argument among the staff.^[3] After that, Biden would "often" touch her shoulder and neck.^[3] Reade felt that "these gestures were not so much about ‘connection' but establishing dominance in the room."^[3] Reade also wrote in that essay: "...this is not a story about sexual misconduct; it is a story about abuse of power."^[3] Reade said she spoke out in 2019 after watching an episode of The View, during which she says most of the panelists defended Biden and attacked Lucy Flores, the former assemblywoman who alleged that Biden kissed the back of her head without consent.^[18][19]

In April 2019, the Associated Press interviewed Reade about the allegations she was making at the time, but did not publish an article, as they found that parts of her story contradicted other reports and they could not corroborate her accusations. At the time, Reade told the Associated Press that Biden rubbed her shoulders and neck and played with her hair. She said a fellow aide told her to dress more modestly at work. She said regarding Biden: "I wasn't scared of him, that he was going to take me in a room or anything. It wasn't that kind of vibe."^[20] The Washington Post also interviewed Reade in 2019, but did not publish an article about that interview. Later in 2020, The Washington Post revealed that Reade had told them that Biden he touched her neck and shoulders, "and he had people around saying it was okay". The Washington Post stated that Reade in 2019 "did not mention the alleged assault or suggest there was more to the story."^[8][9] In April 2019, The New York Times ran an article about Biden's viability as a presidential candidate during the Me Too era, citing multiple women stating that Biden's touches made them uncomfortable while other women defended his actions as supportive and nurturing.^[21] The article also mentions that Biden has been "touchy-feely with men, too," and that he is an "inveterate hugger who has no ill intent."^[21]

Asked why she didn't present the sexual assault allegations earlier, Reade told Newsweek she "didn't really know how to [come forward] because, how would you?"^[22] Reade contacted Time's Up Legal Defense Fund seeking legal and public relations support in an effort to "get her story out in a safe way". Uma Iyer, vice president of The National Women's Law Center (NWLC), which oversees and distributes funds for Time's Up, expressed their desire to provide her as much assistance as they possibly could but funding her legal defense was not possible because of restrictions imposed by their 501(c)(3) status.^[22][23] Time's Up provided Reade a list of attorneys to contact; Reade said she contacted all of them, but none agreed to represent her. As of May 1, 2020, there was no indication that she has secured legal representation.^[24] In an interview with Law and Crime, Reade said the lawyers declined to represent her for different reasons; some refused out of a fear of Biden, and some "outright said they were Biden supporters".^[25] Following Reade's 2020 allegation, David Axelrod, a former top aide for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, stated that the vetting process for choosing Biden as the Vice President did not find any allegations of sexual misconduct.^[26]

In a March 25, 2020, interview with Katie Halper, Reade alleged that Biden had pushed her against a wall, kissed her neck, put his hand under her skirt, penetrated her with his fingers and asked, "Do you want to go somewhere else?"^[1][13] Reade later told NPR for an April 19 article, "His hands went underneath my clothing and he was touching me in my private areas and without my consent."^[13] Reade told The New York Times for an April 12 article that when she pulled away from Biden, he looked puzzled and said, "Come on, man, I heard you liked me." She then said he told her "You're nothing to me, nothing," followed by "You’re OK, you're fine."^[24] Reade told NPR she could not remember the exact place or date of the incident, stating it was likely a basement of a D.C. Senate office building in the spring of 1993.^[13]

Reade told The New York Times that after the alleged assault, she had reported about harassment to three of Biden's aides (Ted Kaufman, Dennis Toner and Marianne Baker), but did not mention the assault.^[24] She said that nothing happened as a result, so she wrote a complaint to a Senate personnel office.^[24] Reade told the Associated Press that her complaint to the Senate personnel office was about "retaliation" and "him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable", with no explicit mention of sexual assault or sexual harassment.^[20] Reade did not keep a copy of her Senate personnel office complaint.^[20] The complaint has not been found yet.^[20]

Reade said that eventually, her office duties were reduced^[24] and that Kaufman later said that she did not fit the office, instructing her to find a new job.^[24] However, Reade told the Associated Press that it was Toner who stated she did not fit the job and encouraged her to find another job, which the AP noted was a contradiction with her account to The New York Times.^[27] In blog posts in January and April 2020, she wrote that no one in Washington, D.C., wanted to hire her after her firing.^[9]

Addressing why she made her sexual assault allegation public, Reade said during her March interview, "I'm hoping by coming forward with this—and I know it's hard to listen to, and it's hard to live in it, right? But my justice now, the only justice I can have, is to be moving freely in the world and to heal and not be silenced."^[1] According to The Intercept, Reade had feared coming forward with her full story of sexual assault and "went silent" after receiving harassment online related to her earlier allegations in April 2019 of inappropriate touching, saying that she later "thought about the world she wanted her daughter to live in and decided that she wanted to continue telling her story".^[19] On April 9, 2020 she filed a police report with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department alleging she was sexually assaulted in the spring of 1993.^[13][7] NPR reported that a record of the police report named Biden as the assailant.^[13] The Washington Metropolitan Police said on April 25 that her complaint is an inactive case.^[28][29] She acknowledged that the statute of limitations has lapsed, and she stated that she filed the report "for safety reasons only."^[24][30]

An April 12 The New York Times article reported that the publication had conducted interviews with Reade, several of her friends, lawyers, nearly two dozen people who worked with Biden in the early 1990s, and seven women who accused him of kissing, hugging, or touching them in ways that had made them feel uncomfortable. It said it found no other allegations of sexual assault in the course of its reporting. Several of the seven women said that they believed Reade, but had no new knowledge about the incident.^[24] Two friends said that she had told them of the alleged assault (one in 1993 shortly after the alleged assault took place, the other in 2008). Melissa Lefko, a contemporary staff assistant, said she had never experienced harassment and thought his office was a "very supportive environment for women."^[24] The NYT story included two former interns who said they remembered Reade 'suddenly changing roles and no longer overseeing them' at the same time Reade said she had been 'abruptly reassigned'.^[31]

Reade named three aides that she asserted she complained to about harassment by Biden (but not sexual assault). In the same article, these three aides denied Reade's assertion. Ted Kaufman, Biden's chief of staff at the time, said: "I did not know her. She did not come to me. If she had, I would have remembered her."^[24] Former deputy chief of staff, Dennis Toner, said "It's just so preposterous that Senator Biden would be faced with these allegations. I don't remember her. I don't remember this conversation. And I would remember this conversation."^[24] Biden's campaign released a statement from Marianne Baker, Biden's former executive assistant: "I never once witnessed, or heard of, or received, any reports of inappropriate conduct, period — not from Ms. Reade, not from anyone. I have absolutely no knowledge or memory of Ms. Reade's accounting of events, which would have left a searing impression on me as a woman professional, and as a manager.^[24] The Times later published another story about the allegation, which included a statement that the Biden campaign released talking points that mischaracterized its earlier investigation.^[32] The Times reiterated that it "made no conclusion either way".^[32]

The Associated Press, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times spoke with unnamed sources, friends of Reade and a former co-worker, some of whom said that they heard different parts of Reade's account from Reade at or around the time the alleged incident occurred, or later.^[33][34] After making her allegation public, reporters contacted associates and friends of Reade, some of whom claimed that Reade told them of her allegation against Biden at the time. Lorraine Sanchez was Reade's co-worker from 1994–1996, and says she was told about "sexual harassment" by Reade, and about a complaint filed and the subsequent loss of her job, but she does not recall if Reade named Biden. According to an April 28, 2020, CNN story, on April 27, Lynda LaCasse told CNN that Reade had told her about the alleged assault by Biden "...in the mid-1990s".^[34] LaCasse also stated that she remembered the allegations when Reade contacted her recently, saying: "this Joe Biden thing is coming up again."^[35] In an interview with The Intercept, Reade said that her mother, Jeanette Altimus, called into Larry King Live anonymously "saying my daughter was sexually harassed and retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help?" The Intercept was directed to a segment from the episode "Washington: The Cruelest City on Earth?", which was broadcast by CNN on August 11, 1993, where an anonymous caller from San Luis Obispo, California said in part: "I'm wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there, after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him."^[36] CNN verified that Altimus lived in San Luis Obispo at the time of the call.^[37]

Collin Moulton, Reade's brother, initially reported to The Washington Post that Reade told him in 1993 that Biden had touched her neck and shoulders. He said there was "a gym bag incident", and that Biden "was inappropriate". Several days after that interview, Moulton told the Post that Reade in the early 1990s told him Biden put his hand "under her clothes."^[9] Moulton was also interviewed by ABC News, in which he said Reade earlier informed him about "harassment at work" by Biden, but that he only heard about the assault in 2020. Hours after the interview concluded, he told ABC News that he had heard from Reade in 1993 that Biden had "more or less cornered her against the wall" and "put his hands up her clothes".^[38]

On May 1, New York Times' reporter Lisa Lerer said Reade had cancelled a planned interview with Fox News, stating that "death threats received by her and her child made her nervous about being in the public eye".^[39]

The Associated Press in early May spoke with two more people who said Reade had told them parts of her story years ago. One was told of the alleged assault in 1993, and another remembers hearing of "sexual harassment" in 2007 or 2008.^[40][41] It is unknown if these are the same two unidentified individuals who spoke to The New York Times on April 12, 2020.

Biden addressed the allegation on May 1, 2020, stating: "This never happened." He called for the media to "examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways."^[42] In his formal statement, Biden referenced the Violence Against Women Act he said he wrote "over 25 years ago", adding:

I knew we had to change not only the law, but the culture. ... I recognize my responsibility to be a voice, an advocate, and a leader for the change in culture that has begun but is nowhere near finished. So I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They aren't true.^[43]

Reade has said she filed a complaint with a congressional personnel office, but that it does not mention sexual assault.^[44][a][45] Biden's senatorial records are in the possession of the University of Delaware, consisting of "1,875 boxes and 415 gigabytes of electronic content, largely uncatalogued."^[46] A University of Delaware spokeswoman said that the curation of the records would not be completed before 2021 and that they were unable to identify specific documents or files within the collection.^[47] Biden stated that those records do not contain personnel files and requested that the secretary of the Senate work with the National Archives and Records Administration to identify and release any complaint by Reade and any other relevant documents.^[42] After the National Archives informed him that the records from the time period were still under the control of the Senate, Biden on May 1, 2020, requested the Senate to search for and release any documents pertaining to the complaint Reade allegedly filed in 1993.^[48]

NPR stated that Reade changed her story over time and that some of the details she provided have been "inconsistent;" NPR stated that in 2019 she did not mention sexual assault, but only harassment.^[13] Reade said she did not share her full allegation when she initially came forward because, in part, she "just didn't have the courage,"^[49] and that after publicly alleging that he had touched her inappropriately, she said she received death threats, a "wave of criticism,"^[24] and was doxed.^[50] Katie Halper, whose interview with Reade broke the story of the allegations, responded that Reade's story had not changed, writing in the The Guardian, "in fact Reade provided more details over time, something that is common among survivors of sexual assault."^[51] In response to similar claims from Amanda Marcotte of Salon regarding inconsistencies in Reade's account, Nathan J. Robinson of Current Affairs mentioned that he had talked to Reade extensively and that she was "completely consistent". He said "gradually opening up about the parts of your story that are the most difficult to tell is very different from altering it", and that it is "how survivors tell stories".^[52] Joan Walsh, writing in The Nation, said Reade's allegation of sexual assault "doesn't stand up to close scrutiny".^[53] The Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi wrote an op-ed: "Why has the media ignored sexual assault allegations against Biden?" She expressed that it is frustrating to see conservatives "weaponize the accusations" and liberals "turning a blind eye".^[54][55]

Footnotes

Citations

• Statement by Vice President Joe Biden

Multimedia

• Halper, Katie (March 30, 2020). "Biden accuser: "I wanted to be a senator; I didn't want to sleep with one" (audio)". Katie Halper podcast.
• Krystal Ball (March 26, 2020). "Tara Reade discusses Biden allegation with Hill.TV's Rising". The Hill (video interview). Rising.
• Larry King (August 11, 1993). Washington: The Cruelest City on Earth? (video which includes a call from a San Luis Obispo, California, woman about daughter's departure from job working for an unnamed U.S. Senator). Larry King Live. CNN. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020.
• Mika Brzezinski (May 1, 2020). Joe Biden: This is an open book, there is nothing for me to hide. Morning Joe. MSNBC.