Joan Walsh at the Nation-The Troublesome Tara Reade Story

[Gothmog]

Link to tweet

There is no evidence former Vice President Joe Biden, now the assumptive Democratic presidential nominee, sexually assaulted aide Tara Reade in 1993. There is no evidence he did not. Reade claims he did — specifically, that he pushed her against a wall and digitally penetrated her against her will, when she worked in his US Senate office. Biden’s campaign firmly denies it.

The story originated on the left, just about three weeks ago, when diehard Bernie Sanders supporter Katie Halper hosted Reade on her podcast, and encouraged her to tell her story publicly for the first time in 27 years. The story took off from there, on the left and the right, with certain Sanders supporters and Donald Trump backers (whose own man is credibly accused of sexual assault or extreme harassment by more than a dozen women) accusing the mainstream media of pro-Biden bias for not investigating the charges against him.....

Where does this leave us? Reade’s shifting stories are a huge problem, as they would be for anyone claiming to be the victim of a crime. And as someone who has personally criticized Biden for his persistent invasion of women’s personal space — up to and including multiple accounts of touching and kissing — I find her allegation hard to believe. Is it possible? Sure. Is it probable? No.

And here’s why, in addition to Reade’s credibility issues: in his closely documented, almost 50-year career, there have been no other similar claims against Biden. The Times interviewed the other seven women who came out last year to accuse Biden of touching them against their will; none said his behavior crossed the line to sexual assault. After many dozen interviews, with Reade and her friends, along with lawyers and two dozen Biden staffers, the writers concluded: “The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden.” Men who do what Reade says Biden did tend to do it more than once (see Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump). Also, once an allegation like Reade’s surfaces, others usually follow. They have not, at least so far.....

Reporters have done just that with Tara Reade. Her allegation against Biden doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny. And bullying by the left or right won’t change that.

[Walleye]

1. It's not possible that this happened and nobody in Delaware talked about it.

He won 6 statewide elections. Delaware is a big small town

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. There's also no possibility it wouldn't have turned up

when Obama's campaign was vetting him for VP.

[Walleye]

5. Good point.

[Gothmog]

14. I trust the vetting done by President Obama

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Me, too. I can't imagine any reason not to.

Wouldn't any campaign have done extremely thorough oppo research on any potential running mate? It's ridiculous to think an allegation like this wouldn't have been discovered and looked into.

[Cha]

3. Tara Reade knows it's a felony to file a false police report

Tara Reade knows it's a felony to file a false police report..

In two recent interviews with The Associated Press, Tara Reade alleged the assault occurred in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. She filed a police report in Washington on Thursday saying she was the victim of a sexual assault by an unnamed person in 1993, a copy of which was obtained by the AP.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213275403

Reade needs to be held accountable for her false accusation.

[mcar]

4. So, basically every national media outlet has examined this charge

And found it bogus. That's good enough for me.

[sop]

8. But, that won't stop Trump from seating Tara Reade in the front row at the debates, like he did

with Bill Clinton's accusers.

[stillcool]

11. but if the Trump accusers are seated..

they'll need more than the front row.

[sop]

12. And if social distancing is still in effect, an entire auditorium.

[Gothmog]

15. Trump will not debate Biden

[Sneederbunk]

16. +100

[mcar]

13. That should be of no account to Democrats

and others who lean Joe.

He can have all 23 of Dotards accuser take up a whole row.

[Hav]

6. Even the articles pointing out the clear lack of credibility

still give that story too much credit due to the sensitivity of the issue.
When the article said that no other accuser described the acts as sexual assault, it should have stressed that this was Reade's initial characterization before she suddenly called it rape. Her account changed when her preferred candidate began losing. In fact, she praised Biden until these primaries started.

[kimbutgar]

7. If Joe Biden was a harasser more women would have come forward.

Plus look at his wife Jill she is a fox, Tara is nothing compared to Jill.

And if Joe was a harasser why didn’t this come out in 2008? this is an obvious right wing hit job!

[HarlanPepper]

19. Those scripts could be being written and roles cast as we sit here right now

We should not assume they won’t try it again with someone else. And by they, in case anyone is wondering, I mean the Trump-Putin cabal that Reade is an operative of/for. We’ll still win but they will run from the gutter as usual.

[kimbutgar]

36. You really think she's putin related?

[Corgigal]

9. Ronan,

You around?

Could need some truth, quickly please.

[AJT]

10. Reade wrote this:

Medium post was pretty clearly a political screed, headlined “Why A Liberal Democrat Supports Vladimir Putin.” She claimed that she quit working for Biden because she loves “Russia with all my heart” and was sickened by “the reckless imperialism of America.

[wishstar]

17. So seems that she never brought up the charge the whole 8 years he was VP

or during the Obama/Biden campaign, but her accusation only came to light after he became the presumptive Pres. nominee this year.

[mtngirl47]

20. It came out during the waning days of the Sanders campaign. n/t

[DURHAM D]

18. I expect Tara will show up at Trump events.

She will be seated next to Juanita Broaddrick.

[alp227]

28. Really? She actively opposes Trump nt

[mwooldri]

22. With Trump on the ticket...

... and with credible sexual harassment cases against him... if the Trump campaign wants to go there with this... I am going to assume that a whole fury of stuff be unleashed at DJT if his campaign goes there with this smear.

[Martin Eden]

23. Thanks for this

I will use it.

[ToxMarz]

24. The story originated on the left...when diehard Bernie Sanders supporter Katie Halper hosted Reade..

Bernie has only been a Democrat when it is convenient for him. It is only reported that way because they think that gives the story more credibility. IT DOES NOT! Just because he and his supporters are "on the left" and Democrats are generally considered "on the left", they are not a monolith. There are rats in all corners in politics. Some campaigns more than others.

[Sloumeau]

25. Tara Reade's story is shaky enough that I have reasonable doubt. nt

[BootinUp]

26. Agreed. nt

[honest.abe]

27. Excellent analysis of the situation.

[moonseller66]

29. First question at the Press Briefing Trump brings this up...

Mr. President. How is this different from what you've been accused of by 17 women?

And why shouldn't the press be asking you about your affairs?


(Crickets)

[Roy Rolling]

30. The Right Biden response

He should agree sexual assault is a crime, and especially troublesome for a president. Therefore, he recommends both candidates be investigated for past crimes.

Innocent people are not afraid of investigation.

An investigation will doom Trump.

Biden should encourage it.

[wnylib]

31. I listened to Reade on the Halper podcast.

It did not sound credible to me. Within the podcast there were self contradictions. Early in the podcast, Reade mentioned that she did some acting before she got interested in politics. I think she used her acting experience in telling her story.

I have worked with women and children who were sexual assault survivors. I know that each person reacts to the experience individually, in accordance with their own personal traits, so I am inclined to believe them. I also know that some details, e g. date, time of day, etc. might be blurred in someone's memory. But the self-contradictions in Reade's story were of a different
nature. I jotted down some notes as I listened, but don't have them at hand now. The story just did not ring true to me. I do not believe it ever happened.

[Hortensis]

32. Here's Richard Painter's Twitter link to Reade's bizarre

“Why A Liberal Democrat Supports Vladimir Putin.”

Link to tweet

She's a whackjob. Putin good, America bad. I wish she wouldn't identify herself as a liberal Democrat.

President Putin’s genius is his judo ability to conserve his own energy and let the opponents flail, using up their energy, while he gains position. Currently, President Putin has a higher approval rating in America then the American President, particularly with women. President Putin has an alluring combination of strength with gentleness. His sensuous image projects his love for life, the embodiment of grace while facing adversity. It is evident that he loves his country, his people and his job. Although his job may seem like in the words of writer, Elizabeth Gilbert on genius, “ trying to swallow the sun.” This is a whole lot to deal with for one mere mortal… President Putin’s obvious reverence for women, children and animals, and his ability with sports is intoxicating to American women. ...

President Putin has taken his nation and his people towards new horizons of developing prosperity with education, science, technology and innovation. While in America, news of more jobs lost, punishing tariffs and ignorant, environmental policies abound. Sanctions mount and scandals alight the media.

We will see if President Putin will even bother to give another thumbs up to the American President at the G 20. Personally, I hope for no thumbs up, since neither the American President nor his wife deserve any positive approval from anyone. Besides, frankly, my dear, President Putin does not need America anymore, and neither does Russia.

[Hortensis]

33. An allegation like this was inevitable for any male candidate.

Actually, being female didn't save Hillary from charges of sexual predation either. But in any case, it's good that Reade is such a questionable character who can't keep a simple story straight and grandiose illusions about her personal insights into America's evil doings.

Link to tweet

[Azathoth]

34. The *exact* same criticisms of Reade were leveled at Ford

1) She "changed" her story.

The Right wrote endless columns about how Blasey Ford supposedly "changed" parts of her story. I won't link to any since they will just be used a pretext to have this post removed, but if you google them, they're all over.

2) She's politically/ideologically motivated.

This one goes without saying. Ford's lawyer even outright admitted during a speech that protecting Roe was part of the motivation for going public.

3) She doesn't have a lot of contemporary witnesses.

Again, same situation with Reade. It was actually worse with Ford, because one of her key witnesses (who initially stated she didn't remember anything but believed her friend nonetheless) actually came out later and stated that she didn't think the allegation was true.

4) There was no pattern of behavior.

This situation changed slightly when additional accusers came forward after the Ford allegations came out (although Avenatti's antics unfortunately helped muddle them). Right now, however, there are more women accusing Biden of inappropriate behavior than were accusing Kavanaugh.

I will say that, for me, the Putin stuff is the reason I don't believe Reade. Putin is a kook magnet. He attracts unstable people with anti-Democratic Party agendas, from Glenn Greenwald and Jill Stein on the left, to Richard Spencer and Trump on the right. Anyone who writes love poems to him and then does something that hurts Democrats is inherently suspect as far as I'm concerned.

That said, I have enough self-awareness to realize that's a judgement call on my part rather than a logical argument disproving Reade. Anyone who does not share my distrust of Putin groupies will not feel the same way. Unless something really discrediting comes out, Democrats are going to face endless comparisons between Reade and Ford.

[Hortensis]

35. Here's the "love Russia with all my heart" essay Reade deleted from Medium.

It'd been archived from https://medium.com/@shewrites94/bring-on-the-light-bf4e8c859058.

https://archive.is/Vi7Hf#selection-125.0-125.18

Bring on the Light
Dec 17, 2018
By Alexandra Tara Reade

What if I told you that everything you learned about Russia was wrong? What if I told you as an American citizen, we have been fed propaganda to further a certain political American agenda? What if I told you actually we are “the bad guys” ? That we were on the wrong side of history?
Our American empire is falling and failing, not because of some imagined threat from a foreign nation but because of our collective greed. Greed is what runs our economy and greed is what will destroy America. ...

President Putin scares the power elite in America because he is a compassionate, caring, visionary leader. President Putin has higher approval ratings in America then the American President. President Putin is beloved by Russia and he not going anywhere. Instead of being ensnared in the recent political intrigues (and America is trying hard to set that trap). President Putin is keeping a calm focus on his own country’s development and future, without America.