AS you might have expected, Biden denied everything this morning regarding Tara Reade. But the most interesting portion of the interview came when Mika pressed Biden on why he won’t release his own Senate records that were donated to the University of Delaware:
Essentially Biden claims he doesn’t want any records that are released to hurt his campaign for president. Further, he claims that there are no personnel records in what he donated to the University of Delaware, that they would be in the national archive.
Mika presses him on why he won’t even allow for a search of his records to be sure, but Biden won’t budge.
Below is a rush transcript:
BRZEZINSKI: “The first is about your University of Delaware records. Do you agree with the reporting that those records were supposed to be revealed to the public and then they were resealed for a long period of time, until after you leave, quote, public life? And if you agree with that, if that’s what happened, why did that happen?”
BIDEN: “Because — look, the fact is, there are a lot of things, of speeches I’ve made, positions I’ve taken, interviews that I did overseas with people, all of those things related to my job. And the idea that they would all be made public while I was running for public office, they could be really taken out of context. The papers are position papers. They are documents that existed — for example, when I met with Putin or whomever. And all of that to be fodder in a campaign at this time, I don’t know of anybody who’s done anything like that. So the National Archives would be the only place that would have anything to do with personnel records. There are no personnel records in the Biden papers at the university.”
BRZEZINSKI: “So, personnel records aside, are you certain there was nothing about Tara Reade in those records —“
BIDEN: “I am absolutely certain.”
BRZEZINSKI: “If so, why not approve a search of her name in those records?”
BIDEN: “Approve a search of her name?”
BRZEZINSKI: “Right. Anything that might be related to Tara Reade in the University of Delaware records.”
BIDEN: “There is nothing. They are not there. I — I — you know, I don’t understand the point you are trying to make. There are no personnel records by definition.”
BRZEZINSKI: “The point I’m trying to make is that you are approving and actually calling for a search of the National Archive’s records.”
BIDEN: “Yes.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Of anything pertaining to Tara Reade. I’m asking why not do the same in the University of Delaware records, which have raised questions because they were supposed to be revealed to the public and then they were sealed for a longer period of time? Why not do it for both sets of records?”
BIDEN: “Because the material in the University of Delaware has no personnel files, but it does have a lot of confidential conversations that I had with the President about a particular issue, that I had with the heads of state, of other places. That would be something that would not be revealed while I was in public office or while I was seeking public office. It just stands to reason. To the best of my knowledge, no one else has done that either.”
BRZEZINSKI: “I’m just talking about her name, not anybody else in those records, a search for that.”
BIDEN: “Uh…”
BRZEZINSKI: “Nothing classified about the president or anybody else. I’m just asking why not do a search for Tara Reade’s name in the University of Delaware records?”
BIDEN: “Look, I mean who does that search?”
BRZEZINSKI: “The University of Delaware? Perhaps you set up a commission that can do it? I don’t know. Whatever is the fairest way to create the most transparency.”
BIDEN: “Well, this is — look, Mika, she said she filed a report. She has her employment records still. She said she refiled a report with the only office that would have a report in the United States Senate at the time. If the report was ever filed, it was filed there, period.”
BRZEZINSKI: “If you could speak directly to Tara Reade about her claims or anything, what would you say?”
BIDEN: “This never ever happened. I don’t know what is motivating her. I don’t know what is behind any of it but it is irrelevant. It never happened. It never happened, period. I’m not going to start questioning her motive. I’m not going to get into that. I’m not going to go after Tara Reade for saying these things. It is the facts? Do any of the things she said, do they add up? It never happened.”
I’m sure that people who support Biden got what they wanted. But as convincing as he may have sounded, Tara Reade’s story just seems too believable at this point to be dismissed from a simple denial. And the fact that he won’t even allow for a search of his records is suspicious. If it does turn out that there is a record of her complaint in the national archives, as Biden says that’s where it’d be, her story will become even more believable and creepy hands Biden will have more to answer on this.