Tara Reade, a former Biden staffer who accused the president of sexually assaulting her in the early 90s, has fled to Russia.
During the build-up to the 2020 presidential election, Reade accused Joe Biden of assaulting her when she was a staff assistant in his Senate office in 1993. Reade’s accusations dominated headlines during the race with various outlets doing their own independent investigations into her claims. Ultimately, Reade’s account contained enough holes that publications like The New York Times seemed to doubt her story was true.
And now, saying she fears for her life after taking aim at President Biden, Reade has defected to Russia with the help of her friend (and infamous Russian spy), Maria Butina.
During a Russian state press conference on Tuesday, Reade sat next to Butina and confirmed she had sought sanctuary under Putin’s regime after feeling unsafe in “Biden’s America.” “I’m still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good,” Reade said. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really so appreciate Maria [Butina] and everyone who’s been giving me that at a time when it’s been very difficult to know if I’m safe or not.”
The interview lasted hours and saw Reade talk about everything from America’s poor roadways to the war in Ukraine to her hope that Russians wouldn’t judge her countrymen too harshly for current US sanctions on the country. Over the years, Reade has shared plenty of pro-Russia propaganda online, complimenting Putin’s reign and filling her Youtube channel with diatribes about US censorship of Russian state-owned media. Though Reade didn’t offer any concrete evidence that her safety was in jeopardy because of her allegations against Biden, she claimed that she felt much more secure in Russia and was hoping Putin might grant her citizenship in the future.
“To my Russian brothers and sisters, I’m sorry right now that American elites are choosing to have such an aggressive stance. Just know that most American citizens do want to be friends and hope that we can have unity again,” she said before adding, “I am enjoying my time in Moscow, and I feel very at home.”
(Via The Daily Beast)