NY Times: ‘Inaccurate’ for Biden to Claim We Cleared Him of Sex Assault Allegation
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The New York Times never cleared former Vice President Joe Biden of allegations that he sexually assaulted a former Senate staffer, the paper said in a statement Wednesday. The Times issued the statement in response to reports that Biden’s campaign has been instructing supporters to suggest otherwise.
“BuzzFeed reported on the existence of talking points being circulated by the Biden campaign that inaccurately suggest a New York Times investigation found that Tara Reade’s allegation ‘did not happen,’” Times Vice President of Communications Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement given to several outletsseveral outlets. “Our investigation made no conclusion either way. As BuzzFeed correctly reported, our story found three former Senate aides whom Reade said she complained to contemporaneously, all of whom either did not remember the incident or said that it did not happen.”
The 56-year-old Reade worked for Biden’s Senate office in 1993 when, she alleges, Biden assaulted her.
Rhoades Ha said reporters described a significant amount of evidence supporting Reade’s claim. “The story also included former interns who remembered Reade suddenly changing roles and no longer overseeing them, which took place during the same time period that Reade said she was abruptly reassigned. The Times also spoke to a friend who said Reade told her the details of the allegation at the time; another friend and Reade’s brother say she told them of a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden.”
The paper generated controversy this month when it changed the final sentence of the story in question. It originally stated, “The Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable.” The latter half of the sentence was deleted after, Executive Editor Dean Baquet said, the Biden campaign complained.
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Mediaite.
Biden surrogates have indeed referenced The Times’ reporting in recent days. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who has been vying to become Biden’s vice presidential nominee, pointed to the story during a Tuesday interview on CNN. “The New York Times did a deep investigation. And they found that the accusation was not credible. I believe Joe Biden,” Abrams said.
The Biden campaign’s talking points also stated that four people Reade said she contemporaneously told about her claims said they could not remember her doing so. However, Reade’s brother, a friend, a former colleague and a former neighbor said they do recall her describing the allegations.
