Tara Reade, a former U.S. Senate aide who has accused President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, has made the “very difficult” decision to defect to Russia.
Reade, a self-proclaimed “anti-imperialist,” made the stunning announcement during a Russian state press conference streamed on Twitter Tuesday, while sitting next to Kremlin spy Maria Butina. Some critics are now claiming that Reade has been a Russian asset all along.
BREAKING: A Statement and Press Conference from Tara Reade @ReadeAlexandra https://t.co/BixNvE1TGs
— Tara Reade 🐎 (@ReadeAlexandra) May 30, 2023
Reade said she made the move after no longer feeling safe living in the United States.
“I’m still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good,” Reade said. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really so appreciate Maria and everyone who’s been giving me that at a time when it’s been very difficult to know if I’m safe or not.”
Reade used the podium to apologize to Russia for the U.S. backing Ukraine in the war.
“To my Russian brothers and sisters, I’m sorry right now that American elites are choosing to have such an aggressive stance. Just know that most American citizens do want to be friends and hope that we can have unity again,” she said.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, “Reade alleged that then-Democratic presidential nominee Biden had sexually assaulted her in 1993 in a Capitol Hill office when she was his staff assistant,” according to The Daily Beast.
Biden strongly denied the allegations, saying “unequivocally, it never, never happened. It didn’t. It never happened” and released a lengthy statement on Reade’s claims. The Daily Beast reported that “media outlets have since found inconsistencies in Reade and witnesses’ accounts of the allegations, which were made public in March 2020.”
Reade has publicly supported Vladimir Putin on social media, and “promoted Russian officials” on her YouTube channel, including posting an interview with Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2022.
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