Sexual Assault Complaint Against Biden Is Now ‘Inactive:’ Police

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Del., on March 12, 2020. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are no longer investigating Tara Reade’s sexual assault complaint against Joe Biden, a spokesman for the agency told the Washington Examiner.

“This is an inactive case, and there are no additional details to provide,” a police spokesman said April 29, providing no further comment.

Reade, a former Biden staffer, filed a report on April 9, 2020 with police in which she said she was a victim of sexual assault but did not name Biden. The court filing stated, “Subject-1 disclosed that she was the victim of a sexual assault which was committed by Subject-2 in 1993.”

She told The Associated Press that the former vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee pushed her against a wall in the basement of an office building on Capitol Hill in 1993 before sexually assaulting her. At the time of the incident, Reade was working for Biden while he was a U.S. senator representing Delaware, his home state.

“He was whispering to me and trying to kiss me at the same time, and he was saying, ‘Do you want to go somewhere else?'” she said. “I remember wanting to say stop, but I don’t know if I said it out loud or if I just thought it. I was kind of frozen up,” she said, adding when she pulled away Biden appeared shocked and told her, “Come on, man, I heard you liked me.”

Four people have now come forward to corroborate certain details about Reade’s claims, although none say they were witnesses to it. Her brother, a former neighbor, and a friend who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said they heard Reade describe the accusation against her boss following the alleged incident.

Former colleague Lorraine Sanchez, who worked with Reade between 1994 and 1996 for a state senator, has also said Reade told her about being sexually harassed by “her former boss while she was in D.C. and as a result of her voicing her concerns to her supervisors, she was let go, fired.” However, Sanchez said she did not remember if Reade specifically named Biden.

At the time of Reade’s report filing, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner, “This is an active, ongoing investigation, and there are no further details to provide at this time.”

“Cases that are handled by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit go through a multi-review prior to being assigned a disposition. This case is progressing through the review process,” they added.

Reade, 56, told the Washington Examiner Wednesday that she had filed the report due to concerns over her safety and had expected that it would not result in criminal charges but maintained that her allegation is true.

“I made a police report knowing I was outside the criminal statute of limitations,” Reade said. “I did this for safety and also to demonstrate I will cooperate with law enforcement of any investigation going forward or in the future, and go under oath if I need to about what happened.”

Reade is one of several women who came forward in early 2019 to accuse Biden of inappropriate touching, hugging, or kissing. In April last year, Biden collectively addressed the allegations from the seven women in a Twitter post in which he pledged to “be more respectful of people’s personal space.”

“Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it,” he wrote.

However, Biden has remained silent on Reade’s claims, and no one in the media has asked him a direct question about her, although his campaign has categorically denied her allegations.