A woman who worked in Joe Biden’s Senate office filed a criminal complaint with the Washington, DC police on Thursday, accusing the former vice president of sexually assaulting her in 1993.
Tara Reade, the former Biden staffer, described the allegation in an interview with podcast host Katie Halper on March 25. Reade said Biden pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers. When she pulled away, she says, he said he thought she “liked” him.
Reade told Business Insider that she filed the report because she had been harassed in the past and “wanted to make it clear that I would be willing to go under oath or cooperate with any law enforcement regarding it, because it did happen. Even if it was 26 years ago.”
She also acknowledged in a tweet Friday that the statute of limitations has run out on her complaint.
When asked to comment on the newly filed criminal complaint against Biden, a campaign spokesperson referred Business Insider to deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield’s previous statement, given on March 27 after the controversy heated up from Halper’s podcast: “Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.”
Last year, Reade was one of several women who came forward publicly to say Biden had kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable. At the time, Reade said Biden used to “put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck” when she worked in his Senate office, but she did not accuse Biden of sexual assault.
Reade says she did not speak publicly about her more-serious allegation last year, in part, because no one else witnessed the incident, while she says others saw Biden harassing her.
She also says she faced online harassment after coming forward last year. As Ryan Grim reported at the Intercept on March 24, journalists and others questioned her credibility, pointing out favorable comments she had made about Vladimir Putin in a 2018 Medium post, perhaps implying that she was a Russian plant.
Richard W. Painter @RWPUSA Read this love fest for Putin by Alexandra Tara Reade. Is this the same person who just made an accusation against @JoeBiden? If so — this game’s up.https://link.medium.com/Ag2HbrGgBV
3,748 8:37 PM - Apr 3, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 2,855 people are talking about this In March, Reade’s allegation initially received little coverage outside of left-wing media (and some media outlets on the right). But the hashtags #IBelieveTara and #TimesUpBiden started to pick up steam on Twitter after Halper’s podcast, as many wondered why it was not getting more attention.
Elliott Crow @crow_elliott One of the only news source to report on @JoeBiden's sexual assault allegations is Yahoo. If you supported the #metoo movement, yet think these allegations are false and "Russian plants", you are putting women down. You're not a feminist #IBelieveTarahttps://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/joe-biden-faces-sexual-assault-211641946.html …
Yahoo Lifestyle @yahoolifestyle
229 6:55 AM - Mar 27, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 221 people are talking about this The allegation also inflamed tensions between supporters of Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who, at the time, was losing to Biden in the primaries. Reade told Vox on March 26 that she initially supported Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president (and also supported Marianne Williamson) but now supported Sanders. (Sanders has since dropped out of the presidential race.) And her report led to allegations by some that she or her supporters were simply trying to throw the election to Sanders — or even to President Donald Trump.
Reade acknowledged the concern that her allegation could benefit Trump in the general election. Trump himself has been accused of sexual harassment, assault, or other misconduct by more than 20 women, and is being sued for defamation by two of them.
“I don’t want Trump to be president,” Reade told Vox. But, she said, she won’t be voting for Biden. “If he’s my president, I just can’t fathom it.”