Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has denied a sexual assault allegation from a woman who worked for him in the early 1990s when he was a U.S. senator.
Biden responded to the allegation more than a month after it was made. He was able to avoid being questioned on the matter during over a dozen interviews conducted by various media outlets.
“While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny,” Biden wrote in the statement.
“I’m saying unequivocally, it never, never happened. And it didn’t,” Biden added during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Biden also said the complaint Reade said she filed wouldn’t be in his Senate files, which are being shielded from public access by the University of Delaware. The document could only be in the National Archives, he added. Biden is requesting the archives release the complaint if it is there.
The National Archives told The Epoch Times: “Any records of Senate personnel complaints from 1993 would have remained under the control of the Senate. Accordingly, inquiries related to these records should be directed to the Senate.”
Requests for comments sent to Reade weren’t returned.
In a statement after Biden’s remarks, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network called for the former vice president “to release any and all records that may be relevant, including those housed at the University of Delaware, in addition to any Senate records housed at the National Archives.”
“We urge him, his campaign, and former staff to cooperate fully and provide complete transparency,” Heather Drevna, vice president of communications at the group, said in the statement.
President Donald Trump told reporters late Thursday that the allegation could be false.
“I know all about false accusations. I’ve been falsely charged numerous times,” Trump said at the White House.
The Republican, who is running for reelection, has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
Biden has received support across the Democratic Party after Reade filed the report, including from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and possible vice presidential candidate Stacey Abrams.
Andrea Boyle Tippett, a university spokeswoman, didn’t respond directly when asked to confirm the report.
She said in an emailed statement that the university received Biden’s Senate papers as a gift.
“We are currently curating the collection, a process that takes a significant amount of time. As the curating process is not complete, the papers are not yet available to the public,” she said.
The college shifted its position on the release of the documents just before Biden announced his presidential bid last year. It said the papers would be sealed until at least Dec. 31, 2019, or two years after Biden “retires from public life.”
