# 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:** 33
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/641 "2020-05-01T19:47:46Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > But are the following really “non-sexual touching” ? These, without exception, are creepy. Any one of them would likely get you an HR letter and a mandatory class on how to keep your fucking hands to yourself in the workplace. But would a prosecutor file charges for any one of these? Never a lawyer around when you need one. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/642 "2020-05-01T20:20:46Z")
The Biden campaign has chosen this particular moment to announce that former Senator Chris Dodd will be on his Vice Presidential Selection Committee, which will interview and evaluate VP candidates, and Biden has already announced that all candidates considered for the VP role will be female. [Dodd is an accused sex predator.](https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile) Thomas likens Kennedy and Dodd to “two guys in a fraternity who have been loosed upon the world.” … Brasserie I: In December 1985, just before he announced he would run for president in 1988, Kennedy allegedly manhandled a pretty young woman employed as a Brasserie waitress. The woman, Carla Gaviglio, declined to be quoted in this article, but says the following account, a similar version of which first appeared in Penthouse last year, is full and accurate: It is after midnight and Kennedy and Dodd are just finishing up a long dinner in a private room on the first floor of the restaurant’s annex. They are drunk. Their dates, two very young blondes, leave the table to go to the bathroom. (The dates are drunk too. “They’d always get their girls very, very drunk,” says a former Brasserie waitress.) Betty Loh, who served the foursome, also leaves the room. Raymond Campet, the co-owner of La Brasserie, tells Gaviglio the senators want to see her. As Gaviglio enters the room, the six-foot-two, 225-plus-pound Kennedy grabs the five-foot-three, 103-pound waitress and throws her on the table. She lands on her back, scattering crystal, plates and cutlery and the lit candles. Several glasses and a crystal candlestick are broken. Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodd’s lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. As he is doing this, Loh enters the room. She and Gaviglio both scream, drawing one or two dishwashers. Startled, Kennedy leaps up. He laughs. Bruised, shaken and angry over what she considered a sexual assault, Gaviglio runs from the room. Kennedy, Dodd and their dates leave shortly thereafter, following a friendly argument between the senators over the check. Perhaps not the best choice. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/643 "2020-05-01T20:53:17Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If they say they felt sexually harassed, then I would take that seriously. If they say they felt uncomfortable, but don’t feel that there was any sexual motive, then I take that seriously too. It’s certainly relevant. But, as **QuickSilver** notes, in a workplace any one of these would land the perpetrator in trouble, independent of whether or not the woman called it sexual harassment. Several of these (indeed, I’d guess any two) would be sufficient for dismissal. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/644 "2020-05-01T21:18:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Joe was a toucher- it was part of his political arsenal… As a defense, this works about as well as “Hey, Trump is a liar - it’s part of his political arsenal.” > [@](#): > > … and back in 1993 it was socially acceptable-\* altho still wrong.\* I seriously question this. I’d accept that it was viewed less harshly than today, but not that it was generally and widely accepted. Googling “US workplace harassment law history” turns up plenty that precedes 1993. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/645 "2020-05-01T21:28:59Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > The Biden campaign has chosen this particular moment to announce that former Senator Chris Dodd will be on his Vice Presidential Selection Committee, which will interview and evaluate VP candidates, and Biden has already announced that all candidates considered for the VP role will be female. > > [Dodd is an accused sex predator.](https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile) I love how “accused” is exactly equal to “guilty” if it’s someone you don’t like. [Dodd’s bio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dodd) doesn’t even have any mention of this alleged incident. But if you read it on the internet, it must be true. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/646 "2020-05-01T21:41:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I love how “accused” is exactly equal to “guilty” if it’s someone you don’t like. > > [Dodd’s bio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dodd) doesn’t even have any mention of this alleged incident. > > But if you read it on the internet, it must be true. :rolleyes: C’mon, if this, > [@](#): > > {…} Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodd’s lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. {…} isn’t prima facie evidence of Chris Dodd committing a sexual assault what is? CMC fnord! ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/647 "2020-05-01T22:39:15Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It’s certainly relevant. But, as **QuickSilver** notes, in a workplace any one of these would land the perpetrator in trouble, independent of whether or not the woman called it sexual harassment. Several of these (indeed, I’d guess any two) would be sufficient for dismissal. Very possibly, if the person in question had been counseled after the first instance and didn’t change their behavior. But Reade’s accusation is still the only allegation against Biden for any sort of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/648 "2020-05-01T22:39:25Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > My understanding is that it’s only her close family that is corroborating this, but I could be wrong. Reade had a neighbor and a coworker say that she told them something about it, though neither is really a “contemporaneous” account as both were years later, from what I understand. The coworker hasn’t been discussed much since she only said Reade claimed to have had a boss who harassed her before, but the neighbor has been in the news for the last few days. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/649 "2020-05-01T22:40:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > [Dodd’s bio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Dodd) doesn’t even have any mention of this alleged incident. > > But if you read it on the internet, it must be true. :rolleyes: And if you didn’t find it in a Wiki bio, it must be false ?? Here’s another cute Kennedy / Chris Dodd episode, courtesy of [url=]Carrie Fisher: > [@Carrie Fisher](#): > > “I found myself driving from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., to have dinner with Chris Dodd, this senator who I knew virtually nothing about. Nor did Senator Dodd – like most people, then, now and always – have any idea who I was in the wide, wide world beyond this cute little actress who’d played Princess Leia.” > > “Suddenly, Senator Kennedy, seated directly across from me, looked at me with his alert, aristocratic eyes and asked me a most surprising question. ‘So,’ he said, clearly amused, ‘do you think you’ll be having sex with Chris at the end of your date?’ … To my left, Chris Dodd looked at me with an unusual grin hanging on his very flushed face.” > > Her reply: “‘Funnily enough, I won’t be having sex with Chris tonight,’ I said, my face composed and calm. ‘No, that probably won’t happen.’ People blinked. ‘Thanks for asking, though.’” > > His retort: “‘Would you have sex with Chris in a hot tub?’ Senator Kennedy asked me, perhaps as a way to say good night? ‘I’m no good in water,’ I told him.” (Teddy really was quite a piece of work.) ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/650 "2020-05-01T22:51:03Z")
Uggh. At least Dodd had the grace to be embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Organism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Organism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Organism)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/651 "2020-05-02T01:52:24Z")
That anyone is shocked about men in positions of power being abusive across a broad spectrum of behaviors is incredible to me. That people think “things started to go bad” when Trump was elected is just the most unbelievably ahistorical insulated privileged nonsense imaginable in the current landscape. Biden’s an empty corpse and America is doomed. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/652 "2020-05-02T01:56:17Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > America is doomed. You have my sympathy. Such pessimism must make for a miserable existence. I choose to be an optimist. And yes, it is a choice. Optimism is what makes good things (or at least less bad things) happen. ---
**Author:** ![Organism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Organism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Organism)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/653 "2020-05-02T02:03:57Z")
Thinking nice thoughts about the inequality-and-racism-and-rape-and-guns-and-warmongering crumbling infrastructure desiccated remains of colonial empire isn’t what I’d personally consider optimism. 328 million people and we’ve got Rapist #1 and Rapist #2. Neither of them knows how to use a computer. It’s 2020. Just an absolute joke. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/654 "2020-05-02T02:12:07Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > Thinking nice thoughts about the inequality-and-racism-and-rape-and-guns-and-warmongering crumbling infrastructure desiccated remains of colonial empire isn’t what I’d personally consider optimism. I agree. I think and hope that if we keep working hard, things will get better. Not all at once, and it won’t be easy, but we still must keep trying and keep working to make things better. That’s optimism, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/655 "2020-05-02T02:14:29Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > Thinking nice thoughts about the inequality-and-racism-and-rape-and-guns-and-warmongering crumbling infrastructure desiccated remains of colonial empire isn’t what I’d personally consider optimism. > > 328 million people and we’ve got Rapist #1 and Rapist #2. Neither of them knows how to use a computer. It’s 2020. > > Just an absolute joke. And your idea of optimism is saying outlandish things on the SDMB that would get you laughed out of any cosplay socialist coffeehouse in Brooklyn? ---
**Author:** ![Organism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Organism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Organism)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/656 "2020-05-02T02:17:52Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > And your idea of optimism is saying outlandish things on the SDMB that would get you laughed out of any cosplay socialist coffeehouse in Brooklyn? What is this, Mad Libs for people who haven’t gone outside since the late '90s? “Come on, man.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/657 "2020-05-02T02:36:11Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > What is this, Mad Libs for people who haven’t gone outside since the late '90s? “Come on, man.” I guess Mad Libs are better then flaunting my SAT vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/658 "2020-05-02T04:04:43Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Reade had a neighbor and a coworker say that she told them something about it, though neither is really a “contemporaneous” account as both were years later, from what I understand. The coworker hasn’t been discussed much since she only said Reade claimed to have had a boss who harassed her before, but the neighbor has been in the news for the last few days. And she added, after verifying that she heard about (some version of) this back in the ’90s, “That said, I’m still supporting Biden.” That’s the bottom line here: the more likely you are to care about this kind of accusation, the more intense your desire to defeat Trump. So, politically speaking, it’s kind of a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/659 "2020-05-02T04:14:47Z")
Here’s David Axelrod on Biden’s 2008 vetting to become Obama’s running mate: [Obama team fully vetted Biden in 2008 and found no hint of former aide's allegation (opinion) | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/opinions/biden-tara-reade-allegations-2008-vetting-axelrod/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2020, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393/660 "2020-05-02T12:04:45Z")
> [@Organism](#): > > Thinking nice thoughts about the inequality-and-racism-and-rape-and-guns-and-warmongering crumbling infrastructure desiccated remains of colonial empire isn’t what I’d personally consider optimism. In all fairness, we didn’t get here by thinking nice thoughts alone. Prayers played a prominent role. > [@Organism](#): > > 328 million people and we’ve got Rapist #1 and Rapist #2. Well there’s a cautionary tale that Dr. Seuss probably considered but, fortunately for Conrad and Sally, never got around to writing. I imagine it would be career ending for The Cat in the Hat if it ever got out. > [@Organism](#): > > Neither of them knows how to use a computer. It’s 2020. You’re not in government work, are you? You have _no_ idea. > [@Organism](#): > > What is this, Mad Libs for people who haven’t gone outside since the late '90s? “Come on, man.” It’s clever jokes like this that will earn you a “Rookie Poster of the Month” prize. You’ve got our attention; though 2015 join date will require some justification. Anyway, good luck and make sure you maintain the high standard of work. Rooting for ya! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/former-staffer-accuses-joe-biden-of-sexual-assault/850393.md?page=34)