# Former staffer accuses Joe Biden of sexual assault **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 27, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393 "2020-03-27T03:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/361 "2020-04-02T21:55:27Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I don’t know how you really investigate something from 1993 no matter who is accused. An attempted rape? You don’t. You just try to delay things until after the midterms. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/362 "2020-04-02T21:56:40Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > The FBI didn’t have enough time. They had a week. They could have spent that time any way they wanted chasing a 30 year old uncorroborated allegation of attempted rape with no physical evidence. > > The only reason the GOP allowed that week was because they couldn’t get the votes without it. Confirming a nominee is an entirely political action. If you are in the minority, your opinion is meaningless, all you can do is throw a tantrum. That’s why it’s important to win election and not chase away moderates in the name of ideological purity. The week wasn’t nearly enough. The GOP got away with it, but this is because our society and culture still suck with regards to treatment of victims, survivors, and accusers of sexual assault and rape. We treat them like shit, even with some progress being made. In a just society, this wouldn’t have been politically tenable. You seem really upset about the specific views I have on this issue, and I’m not sure if there’s any point to going on and on reiterating points I’ve made again and again. I think you’re just going to have to accept that some people really disagree with you, and some of us feel very strongly. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/363 "2020-04-02T22:03:24Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That remains not what we say. It remains what our enemies claim we say, because it makes us sound stupid. No one ever says to believe every single woman, as there are obviously are some cases of false reports. That is a strawman. > > What we say is that accusations should be taken seriously, and seriously investigated. > > Thing is, this is a situation where the woman in question has changed her story several times, and has said, and I quote, “President Putin scares the power elite in America because he is a compassionate, caring, visionary leader.” > > She appears to have changed her story because her previous version wasn’t getting any traction. But this version sounds even more fake, with lines out of a badly written novel. This is a common form of lying–of constantly making things bigger and bigger. It’s not a common way that victims act–they remember the trauma and stick with it, with only minor details varying due to memory. > > Changing your story in a substantial way is a legitimate reason to treat an accusation with suspicion. As is her repeating Russian propaganda at a time when Russia is currently known to be trying to mess with our election process. These are far more substantive than claiming someone is lying because someone else doesn’t remember, alleging a calendar proves something didn’t happen, and other such things. > > That said, the accusations should be taken seriously. They should actually investigate. It’s just that, unlike in most, we actually have a reason to think she could be lying. And it’s not “because I don’t like what she’s saying” or “because the accused is the real victim.” > [@Kearsen1](#): > > This sounds eerily like the things the Republicans were saying about the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford … For the record, she does seem to have strongly changed her story. Here is the accusation which she made previously: > **[Nevada County woman says Joe Biden inappropriately touched her while working...](https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/nevada-county-woman-says-joe-biden-inappropriately-touched-her-while-working-in-his-u-s/article_849817b3-4e7f-5109-b45f-6b57f843e9fc.html)** > > A Nevada County woman has added her voice to a recent spate of allegations that former vice president and possible presidential candidate Joe Biden touched her when she worked in My recollection is that Blasey Ford was consistent in her story - at least, to the extent that she told it to the media. Her psychiatrist’s notes didn’t cover the full story, but that could have been a failure of note-taking. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/364 "2020-04-02T22:03:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > A week is a joke. They failed to interview many relevant individuals, and failed to dig into employment and other records. This was a total sham. McConnell wanted a sham and he got a sham. Its enough to pick up any low hanging fruit on a 30 year old allegation. There was nothing there. If there was, someone would have brought it up by now. > [@](#): > > It’s not credible that anyone thought a week was enough to find out the facts of this case. That it happened to coincide with one party’s political goals (delaying the nomination) is irrelevant – it was still a credible allegation that needed to be seriously and thoroughly investigated, and it wasn’t, not even close. McConnell got what he wanted, and he got away with it, but that doesn’t make it right. Do you know how long it usually takes to find evidence in a murder investigation? I know this is not murder and i know a week does not provide enough time to turn over every stone but it is unreasonable to expect Republicans to let the confirmation go past the midterms. Democrats wouldn’t do it either. Do you know what the FBI’s opinion is of their chances of finding damning evidence in ANY case 30 years after the fact? Delaying the confirmation was not a coincidence, it was the entire purpose. If it wasn’t, Pelosi would be conducting the investigation now in an attempt to impeach him. But she isn’t because everyone knew nothing would come of it. Without evidence, it might as well just be a rumor. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/365 "2020-04-02T22:15:37Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > If there was, someone would have brought it up by now. This is enough to demonstrate the chasm between our understandings of the world. Accusers face a nightmare for coming forward – no wonder they usually don’t. The abominable treatment of Ford (and the other accusers, for that matter) is just further evidence of this, and provides further reasons for other possible victims to stay silent. We need to fix our society before there’s any possibility we can be confident of anything approaching your statement here. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/366 "2020-04-03T02:09:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Maybe you’re satisfied with an “investigation” that didn’t even interview the principles involved, much less delving into employment records and other data that could have supported or challenged Ford’s account. But not everyone will be – some of us really wanted a serious and thorough investigation that looked into all these things. What would the employment records prove? That Judge worked at the grocery store during that time frame? She fucking shopped there. She would have known that he worked there. I remember where several of my classmates worked in high school. If I was crafting a lie, couldn’t I just integrate those true details into my lie instead of adding a verifiably false detail to my story? But whether she lied or was mistaken or the sexual assault really happened, it adds nothing to say that she was right about Judge working at the grocery store. Unless you are knocking down a strawman that my side is arguing that she must have lied about every single detail in the story. I fear that your bias about this issue would lead you to somehow believe that if Judge worked there when she said he did that would somehow be corroborating evidence for her story. And likewise, if he did not work there when she said he did, it could be chalked up as the trauma she suffered simply caused her to misremember things and therefore means nothing at all. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/367 "2020-04-03T10:25:36Z")
Employment records could have set the time frame - she said she saw Judge at the store about six weeks after the assault. If he only worked at the store for a few months, as is common for student jobs, then that could have considerably narrowed the timing of the alleged party. With that info, they could compare it with other records to try and find out other events surrounding this party, which might reveal useful info or jog the memory of others involved. This is like investigation 101 - try and figure out when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/368 "2020-04-03T16:12:57Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Employment records could have set the time frame - she said she saw Judge at the store about six weeks after the assault. If he only worked at the store for a few months, as is common for student jobs, then that could have considerably narrowed the timing of the alleged party. With that info, they could compare it with other records to try and find out other events surrounding this party, which might reveal useful info or jog the memory of others involved. > > This is like investigation 101 - try and figure out when it happened. She said summer of 1982. I’m not sure how “about six weeks later” would narrow that timeframe in any meaningful sense. How would someone not be able to remember such a party from that summer, but if you told them “July,” for example, that would jog their memory? What other records are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/369 "2020-04-03T16:35:04Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > She said summer of 1982. I’m not sure how “about six weeks later” would narrow that timeframe in any meaningful sense. How would someone not be able to remember such a party from that summer, but if you told them “July,” for example, that would jog their memory? I can’t believe this has to be explained to you, but they might find out where everyone was that summer – who traveled where, who worked where, etc., all of which could both shed light on the surrounding events and jog memories (i.e. “we found out you were working at this job on this week, do you recall anything else you were doing around the same time?”). This is just very basic police work, and it wasn’t allowed to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/370 "2020-04-03T16:49:39Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is enough to demonstrate the chasm between our understandings of the world. Accusers face a nightmare for coming forward – no wonder they usually don’t. The abominable treatment of Ford (and the other accusers, for that matter) is just further evidence of this, and provides further reasons for other possible victims to stay silent. We need to fix our society before there’s any possibility we can be confident of anything approaching your statement here. That comment had nothing to do with how accusers are treated. it had to do with the fact that noone is actually focusing on the attempted rape allegations anymore. Probably because noone believes anything would come of it. They probably knew nothing would come of it when they were demanding FBI investigations. In this case the accuser has already come forward. When I say that someone would have brought it up by now I am talking about any evidence that might support Ford’s uncorroborated allegations. AFAICT the Democrats in congress are not really looking into the allegations anymore and are trying to get Kavanaugh on whether he perjured himself about (1) getting blackout drunk in high school and college; (2) when he first learned about allegations made by another woman; (3) the definition of the sexual terms “boof” the “devil’s triangle” etc,; (4) his role in the nomination and confirmation of Judge William Pryor when he worked in the White house for GW Bush; etc. based on things he said over days of testimony. One thing conspicuously missing is anything having to do with whether he actually committed attempted rape. I think this makes it clear that the Democrats don’t believe they can actually prove anything, they probably always knew that and were just stalling for time. hoping to push things past the midterms. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/371 "2020-04-03T17:20:42Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Employment records could have set the time frame - she said she saw Judge at the store about six weeks after the assault. If he only worked at the store for a few months, as is common for student jobs, then that could have considerably narrowed the timing of the alleged party. With that info, they could compare it with other records to try and find out other events surrounding this party, which might reveal useful info or jog the memory of others involved. > > This is like investigation 101 - try and figure out when it happened. You know what is investigations 101? Not investigating a 30 year old allegation with no physical evidence or meaningful corroboration. The FBI didn’t WANT to investigate this and got hamstrung by the GOP. They were ORDERED to investigate this. No law enforcement organization would investigate this much beyond what the FBI did on their own. That is not because America is “profoundly” misogynistic, it is because it is almost certainly a waste of time and resources that can be devoted to cases with a real chance of being resolved. The incident occurred in or around Bethesda, Maryland. There is no statute of limitations for a felony sexual offense in Maryland. Bethesda is a fairly liberal place. They are not investigating. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/372 "2020-04-03T17:21:42Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I can’t believe this has to be explained to you, but they might find out where everyone was that summer – who traveled where, who worked where, etc., all of which could both shed light on the surrounding events and jog memories (i.e. “we found out you were working at this job on this week, do you recall anything else you were doing around the same time?”). This is just very basic police work, and it wasn’t allowed to happen. The police would never investigate a case like this beyond what the FBI already did. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/373 "2020-04-08T09:03:50Z")
A lot of MeToo supporters changing tack and going with believe only if it helps Biden. Should help deflect attention. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/374 "2020-04-08T12:38:49Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > A lot of MeToo supporters changing tack and going with believe only if it helps Biden. Should help deflect attention. Maybe you should send them snake emojis. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/375 "2020-04-08T15:37:20Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > A lot of MeToo supporters changing tack and going with believe only if it helps Biden. Should help deflect attention. Ummm, #metoo was not the result of Kavanaugh. It kicked off because of Harvey Weinstein. It was fairly apolitical. If you recall, a lot of the men called out for it were liberals. Democratic Senator Al Franken comes to mind. Some people tried to leverage #metoo to create a presumption of guilt for Kavanaugh but it wasn’t really the same thing. Noone else that got in trouble with #metoo was getting in trouble for things they allegedly did 30 years ago as a minor. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/376 "2020-04-08T18:52:57Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Maybe you should send them snake emojis. No, it is important to be morally consistent even where emoji area concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/377 "2020-04-08T19:21:58Z")
Quite bluntly, you cannot expect people to shed tribal bias completely when it comes to determining someone’s guilt or innocence - not when something as immensely important as a U.S. presidential election outcome is at stake. Some set aside their blue/red bias better than others, but almost no one can shed it completely. It’s too important. Liberals are no less human than conservatives, they are simply human, like all humans. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/378 "2020-04-12T19:41:11Z")
Hesitating to bring up this thread again; but the New York Times has investigated the claim against Biden, including apparently interviewing everybody they could get ahold of who seemed likely to have relevant information. > **[Examining Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/us/politics/joe-biden-tara-reade-sexual-assault-complaint.html)** > > Ms. Reade, a former Senate aide, has accused Mr. Biden of assaulting her in 1993 and says she told others about it. A Biden spokeswoman said the allegation is false, and former Senate office staff members do not recall such an incident. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/379 "2020-04-12T19:45:46Z")
[Yesterday’s story in Newsweek](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-sexual-assault-police-tara-reade-1497391%3famp=1) about her filing a criminal complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/380 "2020-04-12T23:38:14Z")
I figure this woman will be invited to speak at the GOP convention if she wants to. Or at the least she will be there giving interviews. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=20)