By Bill JuneauWith the angry "Me-Too" movement again in the news because of the alleged misconduct of New York Gov. Cuomo, perhaps its time for a legitimate inquiry into the allegations against Joe Biden. The public may have forgotten that back in his days as a U.S. Senator, the current president was accused of being a sexual predator.
Twenty nine years ago, when Biden seemingly was running with a full tank as a U.S. senator from Delaware, he was accused of forcing his attentions upon an office staffer, Tara Reade, and even penetrating her with his finger, noting in typical Biden rhetoric, "C'mon, man, I heard you liked me."
The complaint from Ms. Reade has a definite ring of truth and some of the circumstances revealed by her have been corroborated by friends, and by her mother. She has contended that references to the incident can be found in the archives of the U.S. Senate or in the basement filings stored at the University of Delaware, but the files with reference to the woman's complaint are supposedly sealed from all inspection, for some unknown reasons. They cannot be examined, but there is nothing in them, Biden has said.
Recently, New York's Gov. Cuomo came under investigation for being a sexual predator after two former aides and a woman he encountered socially told of being harassed sexually by him. One aide claimed he forced a kiss on her. He has denied inappropriate touching, but has apologized for making women feel uncomfortable, though he has said it was never his intention for that to happen. He is friendly guy, he says, and is given to outward expressions of good will which he often demonstrates with a hug and a friendly comment.
Yet these women have spoken out against Cuomo, who recently held an "emotional-style" news conference offering his "I'm sorry" explanations. However, he will not go so far as to resign as governor, despite calls from some fellow Democrats to do so. President Biden has been quiet as to Cuomo's problems, but he has called him the "gold standard" in handling the pandemic, although many are claiming that the governor has lied about the deaths in nursing homes and ought to be prosecuted and thrown out of office for this---aside from his sexual harassment of women.
President Biden has said that the allegations against him are not true, and nothing else needs be said. He says any files which may contain references to the allegations by his former staff assistant are permanently stored and cannot be examined by anyone. That seems to be a satisfactory explanation for the media, which is pleased to have such an honest new President who has taken the place of the evil Donald Trump.
Trump-hating Democrats like Nancy Pelosi aver they are satisfied that Biden simply never did anything wrong and that the allegations from Ms. Reade are a figment of her imagination. That is good enough for the media too, no questions asked.
Senators and Democrats who ripped into Justice Kavanaugh have been completely silent concerning the Reade complaint against Biden. Their previous declarations that "all women are to be believed" simply does not apply to the now hidden complaint by Ms. Reade against Sen. Biden, a gaffe-ridden plagiarist and liar of record.
Back in 1992, Ms. Reade, now 57, was an aide in Biden's senatorial office in the Capitol. In an interview, she told the New York Times that Biden assaulted her in a dark and deserted part of the Capitol after she caught up to her boss to give him his gym bag which he had left in the office.
She said that he pushed her against a wall and started kissing her neck and hair. He slid his hand up her cream-colored blouse, she said, and used his knee to part her bare legs before reaching under her skirt and penetrating her with his fingers.
It happened all at once, she said. "He’s talking to me and his hands are everywhere and everything is happening very quickly,” she recalled. He was kissing me and he said in a low tone, "Do you want to go somewhere else?" Reade said she pulled away and Mr. Biden stopped.
She stated that he looked at her kind of puzzled and whispered in typical Biden rhetoric, "C'mon on, man, I heard you liked me."
At the time, Ms. Reade said she worried whether she had done something wrong to encourage his advances. “He pointed his finger at me and he said, 'you’re nothing to me. Nothing.' Then, he took my shoulders and said, 'you’re okay, you’re fine,' and walked away down a hallway."
Reade said she cleaned up in a restroom, made her way home and, sobbing, called her mother, who encouraged her to immediately file a police report. Instead of notifying police, Reade said that she complained to the personnel office of Biden's behavior.
Reade first went public with the alleged misconduct of Biden in March of last year, and subsequently she was interviewed on 60 Minutes and by Megyn Kelly and during other sessions when she was intercepted by newsmen. Reade was one of eight women who came forward last year to tell of Biden's conduct toward them which made them feel "uncomfortable." In some cases, it was his "hair sniffing" which was unwanted.
The Joe Biden defense has been that the Reade thing never happened, and files at the university cannot be opened. Story closed — and the Democrat-controlled media is fine with that.
Bill Juneau worked for 25 years as a reporter and night city editor at the Chicago Tribune. Subsequently he became a partner in a law firm and also served as a village prosecutor and as a consultant to the Cook County Circuit Court and to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He is currently writing columns and the 'Florida Bill' blog.
Free Press International
