A law firm cut ties with Biden accuser Tara Reade.
Douglas Wigdor said on Friday his firm is no longer representing Reade, who alleges that Joe Biden sexually assaulted and harassed her in 1993, when she was a staffer in his Senate office.
“Our firm no longer represents Tara Reade. Our decision, made on May 20, is by no means a reflection on whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted Ms. Reade,” Wigdor said in a press release. “On that point, our view — which is the same view held by the majority of Americans, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll — has not changed. We also believe that to a large extent Ms. Reade has been subjected to a double standard in terms of the media coverage she has received.”
Wigdor, who represented six people who accused disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse, said neither he nor his firm would provide further comment on Reade’s situation but did criticize the media’s treatment of his former client.
“Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters. We genuinely wish Ms. Reade well and hope that she, as a survivor, is treated fairly. We have and will continue to represent survivors regardless of their alleged predator’s status or politics,” Wigdor said.
During his brief time as Reade’s attorney, Wigdor said the Biden campaign and Democratic operatives were adopting a “Weinstein defense playbook” in their response to Reade’s allegation that Biden forced himself on her in the spring of 1993, kissing her and penetrating her with his fingers without her consent.
Biden, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has strongly denied Reade’s allegations.
On Thursday, Fox News reported that the University of Delaware, which owns and stores archival records from Biden’s history in public office, declined to provide the records related to Reade’s formal complaint against Biden. The university previously said it would not release any documents related to the former vice president’s career as a senator for Delaware without Biden’s “express consent.”
