(NewsReady.com) – A former congressional staffer who accused President Biden of sexual assault has dramatically fled the US. Tara Reade hit the headlines in 2020 when she said then-Senator Biden had molested her at work. Now, she’s defected to Russia — and claims it’s for her safety.
After Biden launched his presidential campaign in February 2019, several women made allegations of sexual assault against him. The most prominent was Tara Reade, who had worked for Biden as a congressional aide in the early 1990s. At first, Reade said Biden had touched her inappropriately and made comments that made her feel uncomfortable; later, her claims escalated, and she said Biden had pinned her against a wall and sexually assaulted her. There were doubts at the time because of how her story changed, and in the end, none of the allegations were taken seriously enough to derail Biden’s campaign.
Now, Reade is in the news again. On May 30, she gave a press conference that was broadcast on Russian TV — and she was speaking from Moscow. In the shock announcement, she said she feared for her life in the US, something she’d already hinted at in a May 7 tweet alleging “threats, bullying and intimidation” from “Joe Biden and DNC political machine.”
Reade told Sputnik, a Russian TV channel closely aligned with President Vladimir Putin, that she now feels safe in Moscow. She also thanked Maria Butina, a member of the Russian parliament — and a convicted spy — for helping her to defect.
Predictably, the White House was dismissive. Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said he wouldn’t attempt to speak for “an aspiring Russian citizen” or her sponsors. More seriously, intelligence expert Rebekah Koffler said Reade is being “played… to stick it to Biden.” Koffler, a former senior analyst with the DIA, warned that Russian propaganda is very good at taking a kernel of truth and twisting it. At this point, Reade might not be in control of her own story.
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