Biden accuser in 2019-2020 now lives in Russia

Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who accused President Joe Biden of sexual assault as he ran for president in 2020, said on Tuesday that she had moved to Russia and was seeking citizenship there, according to Sputnik, a Russian-government-run news site.

Reade told Sputnik in a news conference that while her “dream is to live” in both the United States and Russia, she might only reside in Russia

because that is where she feels “surrounded by protection and safety.”

In 2019, Reade, who briefly worked as a staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office in 1993, accused him of inappropriately touching her. Then in 2020, around the time when he appeared likely to win the Democratic nomination for president, she accused him of sexual assault. Biden flatly denied her allegations.

In interviews with The New York Times in April 2020, no former Biden staff members could corroborate any details of Reade’s allegation or recall any similar behavior by Biden toward her or any women.

A friend of Reade’s said that she had told her the details of the allegation at the time.

In May 2020, a high-profile lawyer of the #MeToo era, Douglas H. Wigdor, dropped Reade as a client as her credibility came under harsh scrutiny, after Antioch University disputed her claim of having received a bachelor’s degree from its Seattle campus.

On Tuesday, Reade told Sputnik that while her decision to go to Russia “was very difficult,” she believed she would be more safe there.

“As far as, like, going to another safe haven, I mean, there are many Americans here, and I don’t want to out a bunch of Americans, but there are people here that are coming to Russia,” Reade said.

She added that “luckily, the Kremlin is accommodating.”