Accusations Against Joe Biden Gaining Steam

More is coming out from the former aide to Joe Biden who has accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator. Biden’s campaign denies the charges. In two recent interviews with the AP, Tara Reade alleged the assault occurred in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. She filed a police report in Washington on Thursday saying she was the victim of a sexual assault by an unnamed person in 1993, a copy of which was obtained by the AP. Earlier in the Democratic primary, Biden faced accusations of unwanted touching by several women, who said they were uncomfortable with hugs, hand holding, and other actions. Reade was among the women who came forward, but she did not allege sexual assault at the time.

In recent weeks, she’s given a handful of interviews saying Biden’s actions went further than she initially disclosed. In an interview with the AP, she detailed a 1993 encounter that she says occurred when she was asked by a supervisor to bring Biden his gym bag as he was on his way down to the Senate gymnasium. She says Biden pushed her against a wall in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building, groped her, and penetrated her with his fingers. The AP spoke to five current or former Biden staffers on Sunday, all of whom worked for him at the time of the alleged incident. None recalled such an incident or a report, and neither his chief of staff nor his deputy chief of staff could recall Reade. Both said what she had described was out of character for Biden. A Biden rep says of Reade's claim, "This absolutely did not happen." (See the AP for much more.)