There’s a very revealing article on Politico about Tara Reade’s past. The article has interviews with many people who said that Reade, frequently using aliases, lied to them about her past, manipulated them, and used them for free rent or loans that she never paid back. The entire thing is worth a read, but the most revealing bit comes at the very end:
Reade called Klett in 2019 after first publicly lodging allegations that Biden inappropriately touched her. At the time, Reade did not share details of an assault.
“I felt two things when she contacted me: that she was feeling me out to see if I would represent her pro bono. And there was a sense that she was trying to plant a story with me, so she could later say: ‘I told the story to this attorney I worked with,’” Klett said.
“I support women who have been assaulted. Unfortunately, I cannot support Tara Reade,” she said. “When she first contacted me regarding this issue, she could not provide enough credible information. And since that time the story has evolved in the media. I question her motives.”
It’s interesting that at least one of Reade’s confidants who she claimed she told about the assault at the time changed her story along with Reade . Both of the following quotes are from a Vox article last week:
Last year, Reade encouraged me to speak with a friend of hers who counseled her through her time in Biden’s office in 1992 and 1993. The friend was clear about what had happened, and what hadn’t.
“On the scale of other things we heard, and I feel ashamed, but it wasn’t that bad. [Biden] never tried to kiss her directly. He never went for one of those touches. It was one of those, ‘sorry you took it that way.’ I know that is very hard to explain,” the friend told me. She went on: “What was creepy was that it was always in front of people.”
After Reade came forward with the claims of sexual assault, that friend changed her story:
I spoke with Reade’s friend again this week. She said that Reade had told her about the alleged assault the week it happened in 1993. I asked the friend why, then, did she volunteer so explicitly that Biden “never tried to kiss her” or touch her inappropriately. “It just organically rolled out that way,” the friend said. “[Reade] and I had many conversations a year ago about what her degree of comfort was. She wanted to leave a layer there, and I did not want to betray that. It just wasn’t my place.”
If it’s true that Reade was “fishing” to find people who would claim that she told them about the sexual assault, it definitely casts suspicion on those who have come forward and since changed their story along with Reade.
PBS also interviewed 74 former Biden staffers, none of whom would corroborate Reade’s story and all of whom said that they never witnessed Biden behaving inappropriately. The whole article is worth reading as well, but staffers challenged a couple of the specific details about Reade’s claims that are worth noting just because they are substantial enough to be proven or disproven as more evidence comes forward:
- Two staffers said that Reade’s job was on shaky ground for a while before being let go due to her inability to keep up, and that she was ultimately fired for performance.
- Several also said that Biden attended no fundraisers at the time and most staff were forbidden from attending them as well, challenging Reade’s claim that she was asked to serve drinks at one because she had nice legs).