A woman named Tara Reade has come forward to tell her story of how Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in his office in 1993. In case you’re wondering, this isn’t some right-wing hit job on Biden. The story was reported on by The Intercept and the interview was done by Katie Halper, who is the co-host of Rolling Stone’s Useful Idiots podcast with Matt Taibbi. Katie Halper has released a portion of the interview below and explained, that while there were no witnesses, she has spoken with two people who both remember Reade telling them about the assault in 1993.
Make of this what you will, but it doesn’t sound good for Biden at all:
This is a story that @ReadeAlexandra has been trying to tell since it happened in 1993. It's a story about sexual assault, retaliation and silencing. #meToo https://t.co/yHz3iFi9a5
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
Below is the audio excerpt released by Halper:
Just to give you all of the information, here is what Halper wrote on the description for the interview excerpt:
Tara Reade has been trying to tell her story since it happened in 1993, when she was working as a staff assistant for Joe Biden. She told part of her story– about how Biden would put his hands on her shoulders and run his fingers up and down her neck– in the spring of 2019 after Lucy Flores accused Biden of kissing the top of her head and smelling her hair inappropriately. But Reade didn’t tell her full story. As Ryan Grim reveals at The Intercept, Reade asked for help from Time’s Up, but the organization said it could not support her because a case taking on Biden would jeopardize their non-profit status. Tara is finally telling the story she’s been trying to tell for decades. While there were no witnesses to Biden’s alleged sexual assault of Tara Reade, her brother and close friend, both of whom I’ve spoken to, recall Reade telling them about it at the time.
Her tweets continue below, repeating some of the information above but adding more to it…
Tara had already come forward about part of her story. After Lucy Flores accused Biden of touching her inappropriately, Reade was one of the 7 other women to share their own stories about Biden. Reade told reporters about the way he would put his hands on her shoulders…
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
run his fingers up and down her neck. She considered talking about the rest of her story. But she didn't because her claims of sexual harassment got her doxxed and smeared as a Russian agent. That was April 2019. Then in January 2020, Reade tried to come forward again…
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
this time to @TIMESUPNOW @TIMESUPLDF. As @ryangrim reported on at @theintercept, the organization said they couldn't help her because Biden was a candidate for federal office & supporting a case against him could jeopardize their nonprofit status. Grim… https://t.co/ps2JZMsizb
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
also pointed out that "The public relations firm that works on behalf of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is SKDKnickerbocker, whose managing director, Anita Dunn, is the top adviser to Biden’s presidential campaign." Not surprisingly, there were no witnesses to the alleged…
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
sexual assault. But Tara's brother and her good friend, each of whom I've spoken with, recall being told about the assault by Tara at the time. This is a story that should have been looked into. Tara reached out to countless people to try to get her story out. Nobody would…
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020
Not even the one organization that was made to support women like her.
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) March 25, 2020