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Politically, it’s safer to assume Tara Reade is telling the truth

We’ll never be certain what happened in 1993, but it will certainly impact what happens on Nov. 3.

Justin Ward
8 min readMay 7, 2020
( Jay Godwin // LBJ Library // Public Domain)

It doesn’t matter if the sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden are true — at least not in the context of the presidential election. Of course, that’s not to say that the truth is irrelevant or that it’s only important insofar as it relates to Biden’s chances at beating Donald Trump. It’s a question of justice and accountability. Even if Biden weren’t the presumptive nominee in what could be the most consequential election of our lifetime, the claims of former senate staffer Tara Reade would still need to be taken seriously and investigated as a matter of principle.

That said, the allegations aren’t likely to be definitively proven or disproven to anyone’s satisfaction. Family and acquaintances have confirmed that Reade told them of the alleged assault at the time, but there were no eye witnesses. Reade says she filed a complaint at the time but she was “too scared” to speak up about the sexual assault and she is unsure what exact wording she used.

If the complaint is found, it will further corroborate her account, but it still falls short of proof that he committed the specific heinous act of which he is accused…

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Justin Ward
Justin Ward

Written by Justin Ward

Journalist and activist. Founder and co-chair of DivestSPD. Bylines at SPLC, The Baffler, GEN, USA Today. Follow on Twitter: @justwardoctrine, @DivestSPD

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