Tara Reade accusations of Biden (appear weak)

[What Exit?]

What 74 former Biden staffers think about Tara Reade’s allegations (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-74-former-biden-staffers-think-about-tara-reades-allegations)

This is from PBS News Hour.

He was not on a list of “creepy” male senators that female staffers told each other to avoid in the elevators on Capitol Hill.
...
None of the people interviewed said that they had experienced sexual harassment, assault or misconduct by Biden. All said they never heard any rumors or allegations of Biden engaging in sexual misconduct, until the recent assault allegation made by Tara Reade.
...
The interviews revealed previously unreported details about the Biden office when Reade worked there, such as an account that she lost her job because of her poor performance, not as retaliation for lodging complaints about sexual harassment, as Reade has said.
etc.

Apparently the hallway where the assault took place doesn't even have an out-of-view area as Reade reported.

Read the article if you care about this subject.

So I am pretty solidly thinking Reade is not being honest or is confused and is working as a tool for those that want Trump to win.

[BJMoose]

Thanks for doing this. I've pretty much ignored the allegations to date, figuring it was a political hatchet job or somesuch; this reporting makes it clear that my assumption almost certainly is correct.

[Derleth]

So I am pretty solidly thinking Reade is not being honest or is confused and is working as a tool for those that want Trump to win.I think we all know that isn't the least hypothesis.

She's a liar and an experienced con artist and she's found a new grift. (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/tara-reade-left-trail-of-aggrieved-acquaintances-260771) She wants to milk someone for money, and she's landed on accusing the top Democrat of sexual assault so Republicans will wine and dine her and pay her and pay attention to her for as long as her ride on this particular gravy train lasts.

She made a false accusation which is something we're going to need to be more willing to think, let alone say, as long as the GOP and other sleazy organizations are willing to use false accusations as a weapon. They did it to Mueller, they did it to Buttigieg even though nobody cared, and they're doing it to Biden. It isn't balls-out crazy like accusing Hillary of harvesting adrenochrome from still-living infants in a pizza parlor basement which doesn't exist, but it is still a false accusation.

[Lounsbury]

There seems to be quite a lot of independent evidence that she's precisely the profile of individual that makes up stories for short-term advantage.

Added to that a narrative that's shifted in quite dubious ways with suspicious escalations on detail, and one can reasonably conclude that this is a 'grifting' play.

[eleanorigby]

She's likely mentally ill, but that does not absolve her actions. She needs help, but she also needs to learn that actions have consequences. I think #MeToo is important, vital, in fact, but there is no escaping the fact that there are some women (not a lot, blessedly few) who do lie about sexual assault.

I cut my teen teeth on the Gary Dotson story and it's never left me. I well remember the image of then Governor Big Jim Thompson holding a pair of Cathleen's panties over his head at the hearing... I live not far from Homewood.

So, yes, I have been sexually harassed and even assaulted in my time on earth, as have far too many women, but there are liars among us. People like Reade make it harder for truly victimized women to be heard and believed. :rigs:

GaryDotson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Dotson)

[Lounsbury]

People are people.

Men lie.

Women lie.

People lie.

People also invent narratives to give themselves psychological comfort - narratives that sometimes are semi-fanciful and become false or semi-false memories.

The 'Believe women' slogan in my opinion was and is a mistake - a simplistic narrative, women don't lie about sexual assualt... a position that can be dangerously exploited and reminds me of the false child exploitation cult scares of the late 1980s.

To avoid doubt, I would take the position that the historical past reflex of women's concerns and accusations being dismissed out-of-hand and never examined (seriously at least) is something needing correcting. But great care is needed to avoid making errors rather similar to those of the child exploitation scares.

But of course as my PoV is People are People and a significant minority of People really suck and are exploitative liars, and it would seem to me there's no reason to see a gender difference in the distribution of exploitive liars, one has to anticipate a non-trivial set of women who as the social cost of accusations is perceived as lowered, will exploit such opening for narcissitic benefit.

---
From Rigby's link

Alleged crime
At the time, sixteen-year-old Cathleen Crowell Webb made up a rape allegation to explain to her foster parents her pregnancy concerns so she could obtain contraception[8] after having had consensual sex with her boyfriend the previous day. After her 1985 recantation, she described herself as an "emotionally disturbed" foster child and revealed that she had been sexually active since the age of 12.[9] Crowell later admitted her fabrication was based on a scene from a 1974 best-selling bodice ripper romance novel, Sweet Savage Love.[4][10]

I understood that Reade's accusations are similar to a book scene also.

That could suggest similar fabulism source.

The take away being simply that People are People and one should take care. (and activism also should take care with slogans that can rebound)

[Metal Years]

More interesting Tara Reade (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/tara-reade-left-trail-of-aggrieved-acquaintances-260771) journalism.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/tara-reade-left-trail-of-aggrieved-acquaintances-260771

[Lounsbury]

Already posted. See Derleth

Having read that, this is perhaps the most indicative:
One of them is Klett, who first met Reade in 2018, when Reade showed up at Klett’s 30-acre equestrian expanse in Santa Cruz County asking to rent a room.

Reade shared that she had been a victim of domestic abuse and was taking some time to study for the bar exam. Reade, who graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2004, asked Klett if she could have a break on rent. She also dropped a big political name, said Klett.

“She spoke to me about Joe Biden and her experience with him,” said Klett, who noted that Reade said she helped work on the Violence Against Women Act, which passed in 1994. “It was positive and in a bragging sense.”

Klett, an attorney and domestic violence victims’ advocate, was sold. She took in Reade, gave her a lower rent rate and even loaned her a battery of law books and test prep materials.

But Reade struggled to make even the reduced rent payments of $200 a month, always asking for more time or for a pass, according to Klett. Eventually, Klett told her she had to leave.

“I’m still waiting to get my law books back,” Klett said.
...
Klett said she’s now struck by Reade’s allegations about Biden. Over months of talks about the law and women’s advocacy, Klett said Reade’s take on Biden never wavered. “In the time that she lived with me in close proximity,” she said, “there was never one allegation against Joe Biden that was disparaging.”

[Sputnik]

She's likely mentally ill, but that does not absolve her actions. She needs help, but she also needs to learn that actions have consequences. I think #MeToo is important, vital, in fact, but there is no escaping the fact that there are some women (not a lot, blessedly few) who do lie about sexual assault.




She's referring everything to her attorney now. She really doesn't need an attorney as she's not in any trouble, yet she's has one. Since she's apparently a person with little or no financial means, I wonder what the deal was between her and the attorney? A book? Talk shows?

I'd say her creditability is pretty poor, but that still doesn't mean she's lying.

[Lounsbury]

For newer reading (thanks to simply clicking on "more" on my Google news feed that also brought up Politico)
California No Profit owner says she was scammed by Tara [under different alias] (https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/watsonville-nonprofit-owner-says-she-was-scammed-by-tara-reade/)
Things started out fine, but Hummer says the relationship frayed after two years—once her volunteer had taken more than a combined $2,000 from Hummer herself and from her organization. Hummer grew to believe that the woman was constantly playing the angles or looking to run a scam. “She was always in crisis, always looking for money,” Hummer says.

That woman, Tara McCabe, is better known these days as Tara Reade.

The fact the woman has a set of aliases used in real life is by the way something of a red flag. Although reasonable explanations may exist...

However, the preponderace of current evidence highlights a person with rather significant past of deception and lying. (and a consistent pattern reported between different people)

[Sputnik]

From Politico this morning.

Defense lawyers look to reopen cases where Tara Reade testified as an expert

It seems Tara has testified as an expert witness but, she isn't an expert after all.

Under the name Alexandra McCabe, Tara Reade has for years testified for the prosecution as an expert in domestic violence cases.

But a number of California defense attorneys are considering challenging the convictions of their clients amid questions about whether Reade misrepresented her credentials under oath.

It takes some pretty big balls to lie to a court, under oath, about your education and experience. I think her 15 minutes of fame are over.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/tara-reade-biden-expert-testimony-274460

[Argument Clinic]

Dropped by the Trumpist lawyer: by no coincidence (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/politics/tara-reade-lawyer/index.html)

Serial fabulist got too caught up in a too public game.

[Derleth]

I think her 15 minutes of fame are over.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/tara-reade-biden-expert-testimony-274460Not as long as FOX News and OAN and RT and whoever else is supporting Trump and/or Bernie can lie and make her seem credible. She's too useful to The Cause and anyway they lie constantly, so there's no reason for them to grow scruples now. Bonus: If she finally starts to live in a world with consequences, they can say the Deep State Pedophile Satanist Jews are having their way with her!

[silenus]

From Politico this morning.

Defense lawyers look to reopen cases where Tara Reade testified as an expert

It seems Tara has testified as an expert witness but, she isn't an expert after all.

Under the name Alexandra McCabe, Tara Reade has for years testified for the prosecution as an expert in domestic violence cases.

But a number of California defense attorneys are considering challenging the convictions of their clients amid questions about whether Reade misrepresented her credentials under oath.

It takes some pretty big balls to lie to a court, under oath, about your education and experience. I think her 15 minutes of fame are over.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/tara-reade-biden-expert-testimony-274460

15 minutes, hell. That's state law violations, so the Cheeto Mussolini can't pardon her. She's looking at 15 years, minimum. Enjoy Chino, bitch!