Democrats who attacked Brett Kavanaugh now defend Joe Biden
High-profile Democrats back former vice president amid sexual assault allegation; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
The Washington Post editorial board is calling on former Vice President Joe Biden to address the allegations made by his former Senate staffer Tara Reade and to "release relevant records" from his time as a senator that are currently sealed at the University of Delaware.
"Tara Reade deserves to be heard, and voters deserve to hear her. They deserve to hear from Joe Biden, too," the editorial board began its piece on Wednesday.
The Post called out the presumptive Democratic nominee for not addressing the growing controversy himself and explained the importance of unsealing his Senate records being held at the university.
"There are, at the moment, no clear conclusions. There may never be. But that is no excuse for not searching. One place to start is the records covering Mr. Biden’s 36-year Senate career, donated to the University of Delaware in 2012 and slated for release to the public two years after Mr. Biden 'retires from public life,'" the Post wrote.
"These could contain confirmation of any complaint Ms. Reade made, either through official congressional channels or to the three other employees she claims she informed not specifically of the alleged assault but more generally of harassment," it continued. "They could also contain nothing of the sort."
The editorial board added: "Insisting on an inventory doesn’t mean one believes Ms. Reade or doesn’t believe her. It signals only a desire for the public to know all that’s able to be known, which ought to be in everyone’s interest."
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The editorial board acknowledged that the search through the records "won't be as easy as some might assume," but "the narrower question is whether the public ought to have as much information as possible about an assault accusation against a presidential contender, and the answer is yes."
"Another place to look is at the source: the candidate himself. Mr. Biden may have little to say besides what his campaign has already said -- that he did not do this, and that this is not something he ever would do. Yet the way to signal he takes Ms. Reade’s case seriously, and the cases of women like her seriously, is to go before the media and the public ready to listen and to reply," The Post continued.
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The piece concluded by invoking the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against President Trump, which dominated the news cycle in the final weeks of the 2016 election.
"It may seem unfair to hold Mr. Trump’s likely rival in the 2020 race to a standard that Mr. Trump has failed to meet again and again. But Mr. Trump shouldn’t be allowed to set that standard. A better man could," The Post wrote.
There has been mounting pressure for Biden to address the controversy himself. His campaign has vehemently denied the allegations. Reade herself called for Biden's Senate personnel records to be released.
"I'm calling for the release of the documents being held by the University of Delaware that contain Biden's staff personnel records because I believe it will have my complaint form, as well as my separation letter and other documents," Reade told Fox News on Tuesday. "Maybe if other staffers that have tried to file complaints would come to light -- why are they under seal? And why won't they be released to the public?"
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Major developments have also arisen in recent days since Reade came forward in March that further corroborate her 1993 claims.
A "Larry King Live" clip from 1993 was unearthed on Friday that purportedly featured Reade's mother calling in to the show anonymously and alluding to her daughter's "problems" with a "prominent senator." Reade confirmed to Fox News it was her mother's voice on the call.
On Monday, two more people -- a former neighbor and a former colleague of Reade's -- remembered conversations they had with her back in the 1990s. One remembered her account of the alleged assault, and another remembered her mentioning harassment but not assault.