Court documents from 1996 reveal that Tara Reade told her ex-husband about Joe Biden sexually harassing her when she worked in his senate office in 1993.
Reade claims that Biden penetrated her with his fingers and kissed her without her consent in his senate office.
According to a report from The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, the declaration by Reade’s then-husband Theodore Dronen does not say Biden committed the harassment nor does it mention her allegations of sexual assault, but it does say Reade told him about “a problem she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s office.”
Dronen wrote that Reade told him she “eventually struck a deal with the chief of staff of the Senator’s office and left her position.”
“It was obvious that this event had a very traumatic effect on (Reade), and that she is still sensitive and effected (sic) by it today,” Dronen wrote.
A former neighbor has also went public declaring that Reade told her about the sexual assault in 1995.
Dronen’s declaration is part of a response to a restraining order Reade filed against him days after he filed for divorce.
“The affidavit from Ms. Reade’s ex-husband is further support that Ms. Reade was sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by then Senator Joe Biden,” Reade’s New York-based attorney, Douglas Wigdor said in a statement to the newspaper. “Ms. Reade’s account of what happened will shortly be aired in an interview by Megyn Kelly and I am confident that the American public will see her genuine veracity.”
Dronen, who still lives in San Luis Obispo County, confirmed to the paper that he wrote the declaration.
“Tara and I ended our relationship over two decades ago under difficult circumstances,” Dronen said in an email to The Tribune. “I am not interested in reliving that chapter of my life. I wish Tara well, and I have nothing further to say.
Reade also told her mother about Biden and she subsequently called into Larry King Live for advice for her daughter.
Tara Reade told me this is her mother's voice. https://t.co/7ymN6Pj55m
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) April 24, 2020
Reade told Meghan Kelly, in a preview of an upcoming interview, that she would be willing to testify about the assault under oath.
https://twitter.com/ricci_sergienko/status/1258490186368860160?s=20
Biden has denied the allegations and has received massive support from former champions of the #MeToo movement, including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
