Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade says she'll take a lie-detector test if he takes one
- Tara Reade, the former Joe Biden staffer who alleged he sexually assaulted her over two decades ago, said in an interview that she would submit to a polygraph test if the former vice president takes one as well.
- In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Reade challenged the premise for her taking a polygraph test about her allegation and said, "I'm not a criminal."
- "Joe Biden should take the polygraph," Reade said. "What kind of precedent does that set for survivors of violence?"
- "This never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened, and it's as simple as that," Biden said earlier in May.
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Tara Reade, the former Joe Biden staffer who alleged he sexually assaulted her over two decades ago, said in an interview that she would submit to a polygraph test if the former vice president takes one as well.
In an interview with longtime journalist Megyn Kelly, Reade challenged the premise of her taking a polygraph test about her allegation and said, "I'm not a criminal."
"Joe Biden should take the polygraph," Reade said. "What kind of precedent does that set for survivors of violence?"
"Does that mean we're presumed guilty, and we all have to take polygraphs," Reade asked. "So I'll take one if Joe Biden takes one. But I'm not a criminal."
Reade added she would "absolutely" testify under oath and be cross-examined by investigators.
Biden has denied all allegations and asked the secretary of the senate to look up records of any complaint filed against him, which the office declined to do.
"I believe in the survivors who that come forward like Christine Blasey Ford and the other ones," Reade said, referring to the professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during high school in 1982. "I stand with them. I think there needs to be a conversation rather than a hashtag."
Reade said that Biden had "a chance for more platforms than I have" to shed light on the incident and that Biden ought to be held accountable and drop out from the 2020 US presidential election.
Reade, 56, accused Biden, 77, of sexually assaulting her in a Senate corridor in 1993. Biden, who was a US senator from Delaware, is accused of putting his hands under her skirt without consent. She filed a police complaint last month despite the low chance of an investigation due to the statute of limitations because of "safety reasons" from online harassment, she said in a previous Insider report.
"I also wanted to make it clear that I would be willing to go under oath or cooperate with any law enforcement regarding it, because it did happen," she said to investigative journalist Rich McHugh. "Even if it was 26 years ago."
Biden has flatly denied the allegation and urged for an investigation.
"This never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened, and it's as simple as that," Biden said earlier in May.