My Two Cents: Tara Reade

I believe the women, which is why this one bothers me.

More than a year ago … a year ago … Tara Reade accused Joe Biden, as other women have, of touching her shoulder and neck in a way that made her uncomfortable, when she worked for him in 1993. That makes sense; Joe admits he’s been known to do that. And then earlier this year, in March, she came out again with the same story, but it got little to no traction, so in April she came out again, though this time the story was different.

This time Reade claimed that in 1993 Joe Biden pushed her up against a wall, put this hand down her skirt and put his fingers in her vagina. But … how is that not the story the first time out? I mean, it feels like the touching of the hair didn’t meet some sort of objective, so she doubled down with fingers penetrating her.

As I said, I believe the women, but this one troubles me, and here’s why:

Although Reade waited 27 years to accuse Biden of sexual assault, that doesn’t bother me so much. I understand that it’s hard to step into the light and go up against a powerful man. And if I believe Christine Blasey Ford—and I do—waiting for many years before speaking up about Brett Kavanaugh, I’d have to believe Reade, except …

How do you tell the story of Biden touching your hair and neck, but forget to mention the penetration with his fingers? And why tell one story first, and then add more graphic details more than a year later?

Reade has an explanation for that. She claims that when she came forward with her allegations in March 2019, she wanted to speak to The Union newspaper in California, but says the reporter’s tone made her feel uncomfortable, so she “shut down” and didn't tell the whole story. She waited another year before finding someone else to tell her story.

That doesn’t ring true.

It also is strange that Reade says she complained about Biden's assault to Marianne Baker, Biden’s executive assistant, as well as to top aides Dennis Toner and Ted Kaufman, and yet all three say she made no such complaints. And these three did simply say they didn’t remember a nearly thirty-year-old complaint, they all completely deny ever being told the story by Tara Reade.

Still, Reade insists she told them, and insists she filed a written complaint against Biden with the Senate personnel office, and yet reporters and staff have never found that written complaint. Even Tara Reade doesn’t possess a copy of the complaint, though she has copies of all other relevant paperwork from that time, including a copy of her 1993 Senate employment records.

That strikes me odd.

Even more troubling is that Reade cannot remember the date, the time, or the exact location of the alleged assault, except that it occurred in a “semiprivate” hallway connecting Senate buildings. She expects us to believe a powerful well-known man assaulted her in the halls of Congress and yet she cannot remember. This is troubling because, with her lack of memory on this point, it’s next to impossible for Joe Biden to go through records and prove he could not have committed the assault, because he was somewhere else at the time. 

Also troublesome is that Tara Reade provides two different explanations for why she stopped working for Biden in 1993. She claimed once that she was fired because Biden wanted her to serve drinks at an event and she refused. Reade says she then felt "pushed out” of her job and so she quit.

However, Reade also claimed that after she filed a sexual harassment complaint—and now she says she never used the words ‘sexual harassment’ in that complaint—with the Senate personnel office, she faced retaliation for complaining and was fired by Biden’s chief of staff.

Quit or fired? It cannot be both.

It also cannot be both that Tara Reade was sexually assaulted by Joe Biden in 1993, but as recently as 2017 she would “Like” praise for Biden’s work combating sexual assault, to which she tweeted:

“My old boss speaks truth. Listen.” 

She was praising him for his work in trying to end the very thing she now claims that he did to her.

It doesn’t make sense. What happened?

Bernie Sanders? Not a stretch; in January of 2020, Reade came out in support of Sanders for president, saying Biden was “the blue version of Trump” and that the Democratic National Committee was trying to “shove” Biden “down Democrat voters throats.” 

And then Tara Reade suddenly began contradicting all she said before about Biden, saying her decision to finally come forward was due to “the hypocrisy that Biden is supposed to be the champion of women’s rights.”

Praise him? Accuse him.

Were her allegations against Biden a form of retaliation for Bernie not winning the nomination? For 27 years, Tara Reade did not publicly accuse Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her, but after his string of victories derailed Sanders from his path to the Democratic nomination, Reade went public with her claim.

And these not just her claims; there is an alleged phone call from her mother to a talk show; friends and family who’ve suddenly remembered, and then remembered more, have come forward.

In 1991 an anonymous woman—who Reade now claims was her mother, who is now deceased—called in to CNN's "Larry King Live" show and said:

"I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there after working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him." 

Her problems there? If we believe Tara Reade, and we believe this woman was her mother, then why talk “problems”? Why not say, anonymously, oddly enough, that your daughter was sexually assaulted by this “prominent senator”?

And then you have Reade’s brother, Collin Moulton, who, in an interview with The Post, says his sister told him Joe Biden inappropriately touched her neck and shoulders. He said not one word about sexual assault until a few days later, when he texted The Post that he suddenly remembered Reade saying Biden put his hand "under her clothes.” 

Again, a man touching your sister’s hair and neck is inappropriate, so why lead with that? If the man forced your sister up against a wall, kissed her, shoved his hand down her skirt and inside her, that would be the story.

Two of Reade’s friend, who requested anonymity, have differing stories, as well. One says Reade told her she was sexually assaulted by Biden, while the other said Reade told her that Biden touched her inappropriately.

Two friends, two different stories.

In addition, in prior interviews, Tara Reade gave an exhaustive list of people she told of the alleged assault, and yet neither one of these women were on that list.

A third friend, Lynda LaCasse, gave an interview to Business Insider, claiming Reade told her of the assault in 1995 or 1996. Insider called LaCasse the “first person to independently corroborate, in detail and on the record, that Reade had told others about her assault allegations contemporaneously.”

That word ‘contemporaneously’ is troubling, because in legalese it generally means ‘existing or occurring in the same period of time,’ but if Reade was sexually assaulted in 1993, telling a friend two or three years later is not contemporaneous at all. 

And one other thing I find disconcerting about Reade’s story. We know that several women claimed that Joe Biden made them uncomfortable with things like a shoulder touch or a hug, but there has never been one hint of sexual assault in all of Joe Biden’s life, except for Tara Reade.

Now, it could be possible that in his entire life Joe Biden committed just one sexual assault, against Reade, but generally speaking men who do these kinds of things don’t do them just once … just look at the twenty-five very similar allegations against the sitting president.

As I said earlier, I believe women, but that doesn’t mean all women are being truthful. It doesn’t mean all women shouldn’t be questioned about inaccuracies in their stories. It doesn’t mean I can’t support the #MeToo movement and question allegations of sexual assault that seem off.

Do I believe Tara Reade? I don’t know because I wasn’t there; only she and Biden know the truth. But I do know that her story doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Her lack of memory on vital parts of the story, like when and when, bother me.

Her changing the story from touching her hair to penetrating her with his fingers bothers me.

Her friends and family who remember one thing, but then suddenly remember more bothers me.

Her praise in the years after the alleged assault for Biden and her sudden attacks on him when she became a Sanders supporter bother me.

The whole thing bothers me.

Jeremy Durham Is Exiled From The Tennessee Statehouse Because He's A "Risk" To Women

I have often wondered why the GOP is so afraid of bathrooms, and what goes on in them, that they opt to legislate who can and cannot use this bathroom or that one. I mean, it’s the GOP folks need to be worried about when you have to pee; what if Republican Larry Craig is wide-stancing in the men’s room? What if disgraced GOP Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is in a locker room molesting young boys again? What about Jeremy Durham in Tennessee?

Oh, you haven’t heard of Durham? Well, he’s the Tennessee Republican Representative who is having his offices moved out of the statehouse because of his inappropriate actions towards women.

Yup; Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell announced last week that she is moving Jeremy Durham's office to the ground floor of a building across the street and limiting his access to committee rooms and the House chamber to only when meetings are taking place because there is an investigation into the Durham’s “pattern of conduct" toward women.

After interviewing 34 current and former lawmakers, lobbyists, staffers and interns, allegations have surfaced that Jeremy Durham tried to initiate contact about non-legislative matters and to meet women alone; he used alcohol in his interaction with women; he made comments of a sexual nature and engaged in inappropriate physical contact with women.

And rather than drum him out of the legislature, they just moved him to another room.

It was Attorney General Herbert Slatery who recommended that the House take action to avoid a hostile work environment:

"Representative Durham's alleged behavior may pose a continuing risk to unsuspecting women who are employed by or interact with the Legislature."

Of course, Jeremy Durham has denied any wrongdoing and is running for re-election this fall and has said he would not comply with Republican leaders' requests for resignation:

"I know for a fact I've never sexually harassed anybody. If I've sent a text message that I shouldn't have, and someone will present it to me I'm happy to address it, and I'll take responsibility."

But, this past January, Jeremy Durham stepped down as House majority whip and also withdrew from the House GOP caucus altogether amid the allegations of inappropriate behavior, both in person and via text messages. He then took a two-week “hiatus” to seek unspecified medical and pastoral counseling.

Perhaps he shared a room with Josh Duggar? Just sayin’.

But in all seriousness, the GOP needs to keep an eye on their own before they continue this march against transgender Americans because there hasn’t been one single report of inappropriate behavior by a trans person in a restroom, but we’ve heard all kinds of stories about the things Republicans do behind closed doors.

CBS News

An Open Letter To Phylicia Rashad

Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Sometimes it’s best to say nothing’? I wish you had because maybe then you would have kept quiet, rather than coming out in support of ALLEGED serial rapist Bill Cosby.

Sure, you can support your friend; you can say you are shocked to hear these stories; you can say this doesn’t sound like the man you know. But what you cannot, and should not, say is that this never happened, and especially not for the ludicrous reasons you give.

You said, and I’ll quote:

“What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

So, you’re just gonna toss out a conspiracy theory with absolutely nothing to back it up? Not so bright, Phylicia. And why, why, would nearly thirty women, over the course of forty-some-odd years, who don’t know one another, suddenly gather now to destroy the legacy of a TV star? What do they gain by that?

Nothing; nothing except having their voices heard, their accusations levied.

You said all of this is being done to keep him off television — Cosby had a new TV deal in the works before these dozens of women came forward which has since been canceled — but if that’s the story, then why didn’t these women come forward back in his 1980s heyday with their ‘lies’? Why now, is what I’m asking? Why would a woman say that Cosby raped her in the 70s … in the 80s … in the 90s … wait twenty, thirty, forty years to come forward? What do they have to gain?

Nothing; nothing except having their voices heard, their accusations levied.

And I am not saying he’s guilty, though I am saying that once nearly thirty women come forward with nearly identical tales of being drugged and raped by Bill Cosby, his innocence seems slightly tarnished; I do believe in innocent until proven guilty but since he’ll never have to face his accusers, and since he refuses to even speak about it, do we just look the other way and pretend these women don’t exist?

But you don’t stop there, with talk of legacies and conspiracies, you take the ridiculousness up a notch by claiming that, while working with Cosby, you never saw any sign of this type of behavior from him. Well, Phylicia, did you expect? Do you think he would have brought these women onto the set of The Cosby Show and drugged and raped them in front of everyone? Rapists hide; rapists lie; rapists deceive. They don’t declare to their co-workers that they spent the weekend trying to drug Beverly Johnson so they could forcibly rape her.

And then you appeared on Good Morning America and continued to put your foot in your mouth. You said Bill Cosby could not do those things because he’s an intellectual.

So, smart men don’t rape?

You said he couldn’t do it because he’s generous.

So, men who give of their time and money cannot force themselves on women?

I understand you are trying to stand up for your friend, but you need to realize your arguments are lame. No one is trying to tarnish his legacy; not one woman said, back in the 70s, Hmmm, I’ll wait until 2014 and then I’ll say Cosby raped me just so they could ruin his reputation. That’s ridiculous.

Also ridiculous is the way you oh so subtly blame the victims — I’m not talking about your “Forget those women” comment … I’ll get to that in a minute — and yet simply ignore the fact that there must be some shred of truth when thirty women step forward and tell the same story of how they met Cosby, what he said to them, where he took them, what he did to them, and what he said to them after.

Thirty women cannot be wrong; not all of them.

Now, I’ll back you up on this, because, in your statement, you said, and again I quote in full, about Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson specifically:

“Forget these women. What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

You didn’t mean to literally forget them, you meant to take them out of the equation so you could show off your conspiracy theory about a shadowy someone trying to ruin Cosby’s legacy. But you are being rude, and shaming, to these women when you say Bill Cosby couldn’t have done these things because he’s smart, philanthropic and never did it in front of you.

Stand up for your friend, if you will, but bear in mind there has to be a grain of truth, or perhaps an entire sand dune of truth, in the stories. Stand up for your friend, but take a minute to stop and think about why, why, these women would do this now, and why, why, Bill Cosby won’t answer his accusers. Stand up for your friend, but realize that when you do, you are also saying that these thirty women ... and counting ... are all liars.

Then take a seat.