[otw_shortcode_dropcap label=”A” font=”Ultra” background_color_class=”otw-no-background” size=”large” border_color_class=”otw-no-border-color”][/otw_shortcode_dropcap] buried story has not received the attention it merits. On March 24thThe Intercept clearly lays out a timeline of Tara Reade’s attempts to report the alleged sexual abuse against Biden, followed by her desire to go public with her story years later. In addition to the map of Ms. Reade’s actions, we learn this: the women’s rights group #MeToo refused assistance to Reade simply because she was accusing the one, the only, Joe Biden.
When Nevada politician Lucy Flores came forward with allegations that Joe Biden had “inappropriately sniffed her hair and kissed the back of her head as she waited to go on stage at a rally in 2014” the women of the ABC show “The View” defended Biden. Reade told a local reporter that after watching the show and the women attack Flores as politically motivated, she had to come forward.
The short article was published by the Union on April 3rd, 2019. “He used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck. I would just kind of freeze and wait for him to stop doing that” she said. Reade also said Biden liked her legs and once wanted her to serve drinks at a party. Reade also said the harassment ended her career because she spoke to U.S. Senate personnel about her concerns which got back to Biden’s office. “My life was hell…This was about power and control. I couldn’t get a job on the Hill” she added.
The Intercept writes that Reade also “had filed a contemporaneous complaint, and there were witnesses, so she considered the allegation bulletproof.” But, “the short article brought a wave of attention on her, along with accusations that she was doing the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin. So, Reade went quiet” reported The Intercept. As the Democratic presidential primary race continued, Reade says she first supported Senator Elizabeth Warren and then Bernie Sanders. “She wanted to continue telling her story and push back against what she saw as online defamation.”
Reade reached out to the organization Time’s Up, which was established during the height of the #MeToo era to give assistance for sexual abuse victims to tell their stories. Unless, of course, the victim is accusing one of their fan favorites. In January this year, Reade contacted a program director about her experience. In February, Reade “learned from a new conversation with Time’s Up…that no assistance could be provided because the person she was accusing, Biden, was a candidate for federal office, and assisting a case against him could jeopardize the organization’s nonprofit status” according to The Intercept.
Here is a little bit of insight into the organization: The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was launched in December 2017 and was the most successful GoFundMe in history. “The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was the recipient of an outpouring of donations over the past two-plus years, and is set up as a nonprofit housed within the National Women’s Law Center.” So far Time’s Up has backed the accusers of Harvey Weinstein, “as well as scores of others with allegations against executives in male-dominated industries. The group has committed more than $10 million toward funding cases” reported The Intercept.
