On Friday, the former vice-president Joe Biden flatly denied an accusation from Tara Reade, a former staffer, that he sexually assaulted her in 1993, when he was a senator from Delaware.
Here is what you need to know about Reade’s allegation and Biden’s response:
Who is Tara Reade?
A former aide to Biden from his years in the Senate, Reade, now 56, says that in 1993, in a corridor in a Senate office building, he pushed her against a wall and assaulted her, penetrating her with his fingers.
According to the New York Times, a friend of Reade said she described an incident at the time, involving Biden. Two more people, another friend and Reade’s brother, have said she mentioned “a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden”.
Reade has said she went to top Biden aides in the Senate office to report being harassed by the senator but did not mention the alleged assault. Reade says the aides did not take action and she filed a formal complaint with the Senate personnel office.
In 2019, Reade and seven other women publicly accused Biden of gestures that made them uncomfortable, included unwanted touching or kissing. Reade first made the allegation of assault in a podcast episode in March.
What has Biden said?
Biden and spokespeople for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee have flatly denied the claim. On Friday, in a Medium post, Biden said the allegations “aren’t true. This never happened.”
Biden said that although Reade says she went to top staffers in his Senate office, none of them have confirmed that she did so.
Reade said she does not have a copy of the complaint she filed in 1993. In his Medium post, Biden said the only place where there could be a record of the complaint would be with the National Archives’ Office of Fair Employment Practices. He wants the secretary of the Senate to ask the archives to find any record of the complaint Reade says she filed.
On Saturday, the National Archives told reporters it did not hold such records, which would be held by the Senate.
Biden has also faced questions about his Senate papers which are held, without being open to the public, at the University of Delaware. He has said any such complaint would not be kept there.
What are Republicans and the Trump campaign saying?
Donald Trump has said he thinks Biden should respond to the allegations. On Saturday he compared his own situation – he has been accused of sexual misconduct or assault by numerous women, claims he denies – with Biden’s.
Spokespeople for the National Republican Congressional Committee have publicly questioned whether Democrats who back Biden believe Reade or will call for Biden to take further steps.
On Saturday, the Trump campaign accused senior Democrats of a “double standard”, comparing their defence of Biden with their approach to a sexual assault claim against Trump supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in late 2018.
What have prominent Democrats said?
Democratic-aligned women’s groups have moved slowly. But before Biden’s statement and interview on Friday, they began urging him to address the allegation head-on.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the highest ranking Democrat in Congress, said she was satisfied with Biden’s response. She also said the allegations would be taken seriously.
Former Georgia house minority leader Stacey Abrams, a potential running mate for Biden, said in an interview with CNN “that women deserve to be heard and I believe they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources”.
She also said: “The New York Times did a deep investigation and they found that the accusation was not credible. I believe Joe Biden.”
The Times has not said the accusation was not credible. It said it made no conclusion either way.
