At least two additional sources have claimed that former Senate staffer Tara Reade told them about aspects of her sexual harassment and assault claims against former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a new report.
The Associated Press revealed Saturday that its reporting uncovered two sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and who added to the already-mixed bag of individuals either corroborating or casting doubt on Reade’s claims.
One friend, who said they knew Reade in 1993, said she told them about the alleged assault when it happened, according to The AP. The second friend met Reade more than a decade after the alleged incident and confirmed that Reade had a conversation with them in 2007 or 2008 about allegedly experiencing sexual harassment from Biden while working in his Senate office.
Reade claimed she told three of Biden’s other staff members about harassment, although none of them reportedly said they remembered hearing those allegations from her. However, two other individuals, including a former neighbor of Reade’s, corroborated her sexual-assault allegation in a report released earlier this week.
In addition to the two sources reported Saturday by The Associated Press, that makes at least four people who have corroborated Reade’s allegations of either sexual assault or harassment against Biden.
JOE BIDEN GETS FIRST TARA READE QUESTIONS IN HIS 16TH APPEARANCE SINCE HER SEX ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS WERE MADE
Lynda LaCasse, one of Reade’s former neighbors, reportedly claimed that Reade shared details about the alleged assault in the mid-1990s. One of Reade’s former colleagues, Lorraine Sanchez, also told Business Insider that she remembered Reade complaining that her former boss harassed her.
Reade was one of eight women who came forward last year with allegations that Biden made them feel uncomfortable with inappropriate displays of affection. Biden acknowledged the complaints at the time and promised to be “more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.”
After reviewing interviews with Reade from 2019, The AP interviewed her again on Friday. The outlet claims that Reade says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office at the time that did not explicitly accuse Biden of sexual assault or harassment.
“I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,” Reade reportedly said. “I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.”
TARA READE SAYS SENATE PERSONNEL COMPLAINT WOULD PROVE BIDEN’S FORMER STAFF ‘LIED’ TO PRESS
Reade said she described her issues with Biden but “the main word I used — and I know I didn’t use sexual harassment — I used ‘uncomfortable.’ And I remember ‘retaliation.’”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Reade has denied this report, however, tweeting after the article’s publication that The AP’s report was “false.”
Reade later told Fox News that the “story itself is correct” but that the headline is “wrong.”
An Associated Press spokesperson told Fox News that it “stands by its story.”
“I do not know what is on the form until we see it. I filed a sexual harassment complaint and included retaliation,” Reade said.
Reade said she told The AP that she had filed an “intake form” regarding sexual harassment but did not disclose the alleged sexual assault in the complaint.
“I asked AP to retract [the] headline,” Reade told Fox News.
On Saturday evening, The AP changed its headline to “Reade: ‘I didn’t use sexual harassment’ in Biden complaint.”
“The headline of this story was changed for clarity and to incorporate a direct quote from Reade,” an editor’s note read at the bottom of the article.
However, Reade told Fox News that it’s “still incorrect” and “misleading.”
“They’re standing by the fact… that I said I don’t think I used the term ‘sexual harassment.’ We didn’t use it as much back in 1993, so I don’t know but that’s not to say that there isn’t a box that I didn’t check. Until we get that form, we don’t know,” Reade explained.
The existence of the Senate report has become a key element of the accusations against Biden, which he has flatly denied. Reade says she doesn’t have a copy of the report, and Biden said Friday that he is not aware that any complaint against him exists. He asked the Senate and the National Archives to search their records to try to locate a complaint from Reade.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source link
