Why I'm skeptical about Reade's sexual assault claim against Biden: Ex-prosecutor

[Suburban Warrior]

Michael J. Stern
Opinion columnist

During 28 years as a state and federal prosecutor, I prosecuted a lot of sexual assault cases. The vast majority came early in my career, when I was a young attorney at a prosecutor’s office outside Detroit.

A year ago, Tara Reade accused former Vice President Joe Biden of touching her shoulder and neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, when she worked for him as a staff assistant in 1993. Then last month, Reade told an interviewer that Biden stuck his hand under her skirt and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers. Biden denies the allegation.

When women make allegations of sexual assault, my default response is to believe them. But as the news media have investigated Reade’s allegations, I’ve become increasingly skeptical. Here are some of the reasons why:

►Delayed reporting … twice. Reade waited 27 years to publicly report her allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her. I understand that victims of sexual assault often do not come forward immediately because recounting the most violent and degrading experience of their lives, to a bunch of strangers, is the proverbial insult to injury. That so many women were willing to wait in my dreary government office, as I ran to the restroom to pull myself together after listening to their stories, is a testament to their fortitude.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/29/joe-biden-sexual-assault-allegation-tara-reade-column/3046962001/

[Gothmog]

1. This is a very compelling article

Last edited Thu Apr 30, 2020, 08:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Here is more from this article

Link to tweet

►Missing formal complaint. Reade told The Times she filed a written complaint against Biden with the Senate personnel office. But The Times could not find any complaint. When The Times asked Reade for a copy of the complaint, she said she did not have it. Yet she maintained and provided a copy of her 1993 Senate employment records.
It is odd that Reade kept a copy of her employment records but did not keep a copy of a complaint documenting criminal conduct by a man whose improprieties changed “the trajectory” of her life. It’s equally odd The Times was unable to find a copy of the alleged Senate complaint.
►Memory lapse. Reade has said that she cannot remember the date, time or exact location of the alleged assault, except that it occurred in a “semiprivate” area in corridors connecting Senate buildings. After I left the Justice Department, I was appointed by the federal court in Los Angeles to represent indigent defendants. The first thing that comes to mind from my defense attorney perspective is that Reade’s amnesia about specifics makes it impossible for Biden to go through records and prove he could not have committed the assault, because he was somewhere else at the time.
For instance, if Reade alleged Biden assaulted her on the afternoon of June 3, 1993, Biden might be able to prove he was on the Senate floor or at the dentist. Her memory lapses could easily be perceived as bulletproofing a false allegation.
►The lie about losing her job. Reade told The Union that Biden wanted her to serve drinks at an event. After she refused, "she felt pushed out and left Biden's employ," the newspaper said last April. But Reade claimed this month in her Times interview that after she filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate personnel office, she faced retaliation and was fired by Biden’s chief of staff.
Leaving a job after refusing to serve drinks at a Biden fundraiser is vastly different than being fired as retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate. The disparity raises questions about Reade’s credibility and account of events.
►Compliments for Biden. In the 1990s, Biden worked to pass the Violence Against Women Act. In 2017, on multiple occasions, Reade retweeted or “liked” praise for Biden and his work combating sexual assault. In the same year, Reade tweeted other compliments of Biden, including: “My old boss speaks truth. Listen.” It is bizarre that Reade would publicly laud Biden for combating the very thing she would later accuse him of doing to her.

[Gothmog]

16. Do you believe that Tara Reade's claim would have shown up during that vetting if true?

Link to tweet

[napi21]

2. Read the entire article. Yes, it was weitten by an attorney, but one with prosecuting sex assault

cases. He explained his reasons for skepticism with facts.

[Historic NY]

3. The police have moved it to inactive.

[canetoad]

4. If I didn't know he was otherwise occupied

I'd say this has Roger Stone's filthy fingers all over it.

Reade is impecunious. They need to find out who's paying her.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. And Putin's fingerprints. She is now all-in praising Putin, reportedly even writing in Russian. . nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. Roger has protoges.

I’m sure there are many mini-Rogers out there, not to mention many others who are being put up to things by certain, ahem, foreign governments.

[panader0]

14. Thanks for the new word-impecunious.

I had to look it up.
G'day.

[Vogon_Glory]

5. Thank you for posting this

The Reade allegations have been extremely unsettling, as have been the mainstream broadcast news articles about them. The most I’d seen was a “she said, he said” followed by a “she said, and her friends say she said”-type articles. We need more in-depth investigation. I am not a 24/7 news junkie and I would not have found this article if you hadn’t posted it.

[Teisofo]

6. She went from "uncomfortable touching" to"vaginal rape"

Both versions after Biden ran for president 27 years after the alleged fact.
We need more articles like this.

[Vinca]

8. That was a good article and I'm glad he wrote it. I haven't found Reade credible from the

beginning because of what she claimed Biden said after she first rebuffed him. This was after the first report of touching. She stated Biden started a response to her with "C'mon, man." That just doesn't ring true. Having survived the pink ghetto for a part of my younger days, I know men of Biden's age might have said "C'mon, honey" or "C'mon, sweetie," but they wouldn't say "C'mon, man" to a woman they were trying to make time with. I also think Reade upped the ante to digital penetration after the first claim flopped. She wants Bernie as a nominee and the only thing standing in his way is Biden.

[jmg257]

9. Good opinion, but not exactly non-partisan.

Michael J. Stern
@MichaelJStern1
@USAToday
opinion columnist. Former Justice Department prosecutor. #Resisting all things Trump

[Hav]

10. True but a good argument

should be judged on its own. We all have biases and although our experiences and sentiments influence us, we can still try to make objective observations. If someone can only counter arguments by pointing at the person's political leanings, then the argument pretty much won by default.

[jmg257]

11. Agree - He posted this thread on twitter, so his leanings are eveident.

Re: Not sure how much weight it will carry for those trump-leaning idiots who read it.

[Gothmog]

19. Jill Wine Banks disagrees with your opinion

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Gothmog]

18. Larry Tribe agrees with this article

Link to tweet

[riversedge]

12. more........

►Missing formal complaint. Reade told The Times she filed a written complaint against Biden with the Senate personnel office. But The Times could not find any complaint. When The Times asked Reade for a copy of the complaint, she said she did not have it. Yet she maintained and provided a copy of her 1993 Senate employment records.

It is odd that Reade kept a copy of her employment records but did not keep a copy of a complaint documenting criminal conduct by a man whose improprieties changed “the trajectory” of her life. It’s equally odd The Times was unable to find a copy of the alleged Senate complaint.

►Memory lapse. Reade has said that she cannot remember the date, time or exact location of the alleged assault, except that it occurred in a “semiprivate” area in corridors connecting Senate buildings. After I left the Justice Department, I was appointed by the federal court in Los Angeles to represent indigent defendants. The first thing that comes to mind from my defense attorney perspective is that Reade’s amnesia about specifics makes it impossible for Biden to go through records and prove he could not have committed the assault, because he was somewhere else at the time.

For instance, if Reade alleged Biden assaulted her on the afternoon of June 3, 1993, Biden might be able to prove he was on the Senate floor or at the dentist. Her memory lapses could easily be perceived as bulletproofing a false allegation.

►The lie about losing her job. Reade told The Union that Biden wanted her to serve drinks at an event. After she refused, "she felt pushed out and left Biden's employ," the newspaper said last April. But Reade claimed this month in her Times interview that after she filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate personnel office, she faced retaliation and was fired by Biden’s chief of staff.

Leaving a job after refusing to serve drinks at a Biden fundraiser is vastly different than being fired as retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint with the Senate. The disparity raises questions about Reade’s credibility and account of events.

►Compliments for Biden.

[riversedge]

15. more..........

►Compliments for Biden.

[Gothmog]

17. Legal experts confirm that the allegations against Joe Biden aren't remotely credible.

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

20. Jill Wine Banks agrees with this article

Link to tweet

?s=20

[smirkymonkey]

21. +1000

I'm not buying her story at all. She is not a credible witness and this just smacks of a partisan hit job.

[Gothmog]

22. Great statement by Joe

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Gothmog]

23. Mika went through a recap of all the ins and outs of this Tara Reade/Joe Biden matter.

Mika is clearing up the record

Link to tweet