In a remarkable change of events, a woman who claimed that US President Joe Biden sexually abused her in 1993 has sought Russian citizenship after defecting to the nation. Ex-Senate employee Tara Reade made the allegations in 2020 when Biden was running for the Democratic nominee for president.
Reade appeared alongside Maria Butina, a Russian politician who was imprisoned in Washington in 2018 for being an alleged spy and said she felt completely at home in Moscow after fleeing the US, in an interview with Russian state media.
“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 felt respected,” said Reade, according to Sputnik News.
“I’m still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good. I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really so appreciate Maria 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,” she added.
Reade has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to grant her citizenship, saying she will be a “good citizen” in the country.
“I’d like to apply for citizenship in Russia, from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. I do promise to be a good citizen.”
What were Reade’s charges?
Notably, in the run-up to the 2020 elections, Reade claimed in an interview that the Democratic leader tried to sexually assault her. When the event occurred, Reade, a junior staffer, was charged with bringing Biden’s workout bag to him in his Senate office.
“l want to f— you,” the former staffer said Biden told her while pinning her up against the wall. She added that what happened next “happened very quickly”.
“I remember being pushed up against the wall. The first thought I had was ‘Where’s the bag?’ which is an absurd thought, but that’s what I thought,” she said.
“He had his hands underneath my clothes, and it happened all at once, so when I tell about it, it’s hard because so many things were happening at once, it’s like my brain was trying to catch up to what was happening.”
However, Biden disputed all of the charges, claiming that the encounter never occurred.
“It is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened,” he said.
Reade stated that she filed a complaint following the alleged occurrence, but no record of it has been discovered.