Tara Reade claims Joe Biden said, 'I want to f--- you' during alleged sexual assault

• Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for then-Sen. Joe Biden who recently accused him of sexual assault, told Megyn Kelly in an exclusive interview that Biden said, "I want to f--- you," during the alleged assault in 1993.
• "He said it low, and I was pushing away, and I remember my knee hurting because our knees — he had opened my legs with his knee — and our kneecaps clashed, so I felt that sharp pain," Reade said, while recounting how Biden allegedly pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers.
• Reade has detailed her experience in multiple interviews with Business Insider, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the podcaster Katie Halper — who first reported the allegations.
• Her allegations have also been corroborated by a former neighbor, who told Business Insider that Reade first told her about the assault in 1995 or 1996.
• Biden has emphatically denied the assault allegation, telling MSNBC last week that "it never happened."
• Biden's campaign has released multiple statements denying the accusations and alleging "inconsistencies" with Reade's comments.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer for former Vice President Joe Biden who recently accused him of sexual assault, claims Biden told her he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her during the alleged assault.

In a sit-down interview with the former Fox News and NBC anchor Megyn Kelly, Reade described her recollection of the alleged event in graphic detail, including what Biden allegedly said to her during the encounter.

Reade alleged that in the spring or summer of 1993, she was told to meet Biden in a semiprivate corridor to deliver a gym bag. There, she said, Biden pushed her up against a wall, reached under her skirt, and penetrated her with his fingers.

"And when he went inside the skirt, he was talking to me at the same time, and he was leaning into me," Reade told Kelly. "And I pulled this way, away from his head, I remember, and so he was kissing my neck area, and he whispered, did I want to go somewhere else, in a little voice."

"He said some other things," Reade added. "I can't remember everything he said. But he said something vulgar."

"May I ask what?" Kelly said.

"He said, 'I want to f--- you,'" Reade said, then paused to collect herself. "And he said it low, and I was pushing away, and I remember my knee hurting because our knees — he had opened my legs with his knee — and our kneecaps clashed, so I felt that sharp pain."

Reade said that she was "tensed up and frozen," and that when Biden noticed she wasn't reciprocating his advances, he "pulled back immediately" and said, "Come on, man, I heard you liked me."

She continued, claiming Biden was "then angry" and that she could feel the "hostility build."

"And he pulled back, and he was just looking at me directly, and he said, he pointed his finger at me and he said, 'You're nothing to me. You're nothing,'" Reade said. She claimed that as Biden saw her start to get upset when he said those words, he shook by her the shoulders and said, "You're ok, you're alright," before walking away.

"And I think that's the hardest thing — and I know people talk about the assault — but his words, those words, stayed with me my whole life," Reade told Kelly. "And as I've been trying to tell my story, and have been torn apart trying to tell it, those words come back."

Reade told Kelly, "There's a measure of hypocrisy of the campaign saying its safe, it's not been safe."

She said she had been attacked on social media and by Biden's supporters.

"His campaign is taking this position that they want all women to be able to speak safely," Reade said. "I have not experienced that."

On Thursday, Biden's campaign released a statement denying the accusations and alleging "inconsistencies" with Reade's comments.

She has recounted her experience in multiple interviews with Business Insider, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the podcaster Katie Halper — who first reported the allegations.

A former neighbor of Reade's, Lynda LaCasse, told Business Insider that Reade had told her about an assault in 1995 or 1996. "I remember her saying, here was this person that she was working for and she idolized him," LaCasse said. "And he kind of put her up against a wall. And he put his hand up her skirt and he put his fingers inside her. She felt like she was assaulted, and she really didn't feel there was anything she could do."

Reade has said she reported other forms of harassment she experienced to Biden's senior staff and Senate human resources, but not the alleged assault. When Reade complained about alleged harassment, she claims she faced career retaliation.

She has called for Biden to open his Senate archives currently residing at the University of Delaware for possible records of her complaints, but Biden has said records would not be available there.

Biden has emphatically denied the assault allegation, telling MSNBC last week that "it never happened."

The New York Times spoke to "several people" who worked in Biden's office at the time as part of their investigation into Reade's claim and reported that none recalled hearing about such an incident or witnessed similar behavior from Biden.

Instead, Biden has called for the National Archives to release any records that might shed light on a complaint made by Reade. But the Archives told Insider they would not have the documents, and that employee complaints filed to the Senate's Office of Fair Employment Practices in the 1990s would be controlled by Senate rules — which dictate that they couldn't be released until 2043.

Last week, Biden wrote to the Secretary of the Senate asking for the office to search for and release any complaints; earlier this week the office rejected Biden's request.