Secretary of the Senate Denies Calls To Disclose Information About Complaint Against Biden
The secretary of the Senate says she is forbidden by law from disclosing any records potentially relating to a sexual assault allegation against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The Hill reported Biden had written Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams on Friday requesting a search for the record of a complaint to the Senate personnel office from Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who says Biden sexually assaulted her while the two were alone in 1993.
The alleged attack occurred during Biden’s time as a senator representing Delaware, and details were made public in March.
The Hill reported Biden asked Adams that she “take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of this search.”
The report said Biden was denied his request on the grounds that Adams does not have the authority to release any information on that record.
Adams’ office told The Hill that the “Secretary has no discretion to disclose any such information as requested in Vice President Biden’s letter of May 1.”
Biden had written to Adams requesting “assistance in determining whether 27 years ago a staff member in my United States Senate office filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment,” National Review reported.
“I request that you take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of this search,” Biden said in his request.
“I would ask that the public release include not only a complaint if one exists, but any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation,” the former vice president continued.
Biden, who had stated that a record of such a complaint would have been stored at the National Archives in his letter, was reportedly informed such a record would be found in the Senate.
The search for Reade’s complaint is now back where it started.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that Reade said in an interview that she did not accuse Biden of sexual assault or harassment in her official complaint.
“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.”
The AP quoted Reade as saying she “chickened out” after showing up to the Senate personnel office.
Reade shared the AP’s tweet of the article — which said, “Tara Reade says a Senate report she filed against Joe Biden didn’t refer to sexual harassment or assault” — Saturday on Twitter and added, “This is false.”
This is false. https://t.co/w4yXGI1DQm
— taratweets ( Alexandra Tara Reade) (@ReadeAlexandra) May 2, 2020
Ryan Grim of The Intercept tweeted a screen shot of the AP report, which said, “Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.”
Grim said that was “consistent with what she told me and others about the complaint.”
Reade retweeted it and commented that she found the headline to be “misleading.”
“Correct and the headline was quite misleading. I filed the intake form regarding sexual harassment and retaliation however that was articulated on form in 1993,” she wrote. “I filed with Senate Personnel. Perhaps Joe Biden knows where that form is located. Ask him.”
Correct and the headline was quite misleading. I filed the intake form regarding sexual harassment and retaliation however that was articulated on form in 1993.
I filed with Senate Personnel. Perhaps Joe Biden knows where that form is located. Ask him. https://t.co/vvA4OC717p— taratweets ( Alexandra Tara Reade) (@ReadeAlexandra) May 3, 2020
But as of Monday, the location of that report and its contents remain a mystery to the public — and if it is indeed located in the Senate, per Adams, it will remain there.
“The office determined that any complaint filed against Biden could not be made public ‘based on the law’s strict confidentiality requirements (Section 313) and the Senate’s own direction that disclosure of Senate Records is not authorized if prohibited by law,’” The Hill reported.
During a later interview with NBC News, Reade said she was “not sure” what wording she used in the complaint to the Senate personnel office, but she said she did file a complaint concerning the issue of sexual harassment.
“I filed a complaint re sexual harassment and retaliation, but I am not sure what explicit words on that intake form until we all see it again,” she said.
Reade said in March that Biden kissed her and penetrated her with his fingers without her consent in 1993, which Biden publicly denied Friday during an interview on MSNBC.
The University of Delaware is the home of more than 1,800 boxes of records from Biden’s career in the Senate, but the candidate told MSNBC a record such as Reade’s complaint would not be located there.
The school says it will not make any the records public “until two years after Mr. Biden retires from public life.”
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