The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Donna Robert
Tara Reade, the former staffer who accused President Biden of sexual harassment, has defected to Russia.
Mr. Biden flatly denied Ms. Reade’s accusations, which stemmed from her work at his Senate office in 1993 and surfaced during the 2020 campaign.
“It never, never happened. It didn’t. It never happened,” Mr. Biden told MSNBC in 2020.
Ms. Reade faded from the headlines, but she showed up Tuesday in Moscow and answered questions from Russian state media alongside Maria Butina, the Russian who befriended political figures in the U.S. and was convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Ms. Reade said she left the U.S. due to death threats and stood by her Biden accusations, saying she’s willing “to testify under oath in Congress, if asked,” according to CNN.
“When I got off the plane in Moscow, for the first time in a very long time I felt safe, and I felt heard, and I felt respected. That has not happened in my own country,” Ms. Reade said.
It is unclear what will happen next for Ms. Reade in Russia, which is at odds with the U.S. and West over its invasion of Ukraine.
Ms. Butina said she would work to fast-track Ms. Reade’s request for citizenship.
