Biden Asks Senate to Find 1993 Tara Reade Complaint—But Reade Says It Doesn’t Mention Assault

Joe Biden has sent a letter to the Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams asking for a search in the Senate’s archives for any documents related to a possible complaint made by his former aide Tara Reade. “I am writing to request your assistance in determining whether 27 years ago a staff member in my United States Senate office filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment,” the letter says. He previously asked the National Archives to make the search, but those in charge of the Archives told him the Senate would have retained the documents. In early April, the Secretary of the Senate told The Daily Beast those records are not under their jurisdiction. Reade has alleged that Biden pinned her up against a wall and digitally penetrated her, an accusation the former VP has denied.

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that Reade said she did file a limited report with a congressional personnel office, but it didn’t 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 told the AP in an interview in 2019. “I know that I was too scared to write about sexual assault.” Reade added that in the report, 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.’” Reade responded to the AP report on Saturday with a tweet that said, “This is false.”