from Jeff Bezos’s Fishwrap News

Submitted by wendy davis on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 11:53am

‘Allegation against Biden prompts reexamination of “Believe women”, Annie Linskey, Sean Sullivan, May 2, 2020 (?), washingtonpost.com

“On Friday, facing his own accusations, he stressed on MSNBC [< Mika on Morning Joe] the importance of “taking the woman’s claims seriously when she steps forward — and then vet it, look into it.”

That shift in Biden’s tone reflects the way a former staffer’s claim that he assaulted her 27 years ago is raising new questions for the #MeToo movement. Democrats and women’s activists, eager to unseat a president they consider deeply misogynistic, are facing tough decisions over whether to stick by Biden or distance themselves — and whether to redefine what emerged as a stark rallying cry after centuries of injustice: “Believe women.”

Among those publicly wrestling with such issues is Alyssa Milano, an actress, #MeToo activist and Biden supporter. “How do progressive women choose between the p—y grabber in chief who has done so much damage to our country and a man who has allegations made against him?” “Believing women was never about ‘Believe all women no matter what they say,’ it was about changing the culture of NOT believing women by default.”

Now ya gotta love this; it’s not just about seeking the Truth, no, but:

“Some longtime women’s rights activists warn that downplaying former staffer Tara Reade’s claims could undermine the movement’s credibility by suggesting it only targets men whose policies it dislikes.

“I think that this could potentially signal the end of MeToo,” said Michele Dauber, a Stanford University law professor who heads the Enough is Enough Voter Project and has called for an investigation. “The failure to investigate, and the failure to live by our principles, will become silencing.”

Then the authors note Republlicans crying hypocrisy because: Brett Kavanaugh 2108. Then corroboration by Reade friend Lynda LaCasse, confirmed by the WaPO, but leaving out Reade’s mum having called in the accusations to Larry King Live, Reade having confirmed her voice later on Twitter, iirc.

““He looks very believable, too,” LaCasse said Friday in an interview with Democracy Now!, an independent news program. “But I’m hearing this today, and I heard Tara a long time ago telling me that. So, I’m struggling with it, with the election now.” She still intends to vote for Biden, she said.

Yes, we well remember the Pink Pussy Hats marches in DeeCee and other venues, and the oft-heard: ‘We felt so empowered!’

The authors note that none of the women who hope to be Biden’s VP choice including Klobucahr and Kamala Harris have raised a peep against Biden, whose pointed interrogations of Kavanaugh raised their political profiles and helped to fuel theirown Presidential bids.

Sen. #MeToo firebrand Gillibrand is quoted as saying “Vice President Biden has vehemently denied these allegations, and I support Vice President Biden.” Pelosi? ““I want to remove all doubt in anyone’s mind — I have great comfort level with the situation as I see it, with all the respect in the world for any woman who comes forward, with all the highest regard for Joe Biden.” What Solomonesque bullshit!

They’d also contacted “the Squad” who were outspoken in their condemnation of Kavanaugh. None responded nor provided a comment. before Biden’s appearance on Morning Joe, and guess what? None responded or provided a comment.

Alleged anti-Trump Republican Ana Navarro-Cardenas who’s on the board of Time’s Up, an organization dedicated to combating sexual harassmen and assault is quoted as saying:

“Every accused, whether president of the United States or president of the Hair Club For Men, should be held accountable and expected to directly respond to the allegations with seriousness and transparency; “Joe Biden did just that with his one and only accuser, though he should have done it sooner. Donald Trump has yet to do that with his dozens of accusers. Given what we know today, it’s Joe Biden by a mile for me.”

Now I suppose the Bezos rag just might see the possibilities of Dementia Joe’s failures to know which office he’s running for, inability to even read a teleprompter, and the fact that Trump would wipe the floor with him in any debate…as a big ‘Uh-Oh!’ So who would offer to step in for Biden even if he sustains another brain aneurysm? Hellary Clinton or Michael Bloomberg?

OTOH, and FWIW 4now: from thehill.com, May 3, 2020, this logical fallacy sophistry:

“Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez on Sunday stood by the group’s decision not to form an investigative panel to look into a sexual assault allegation against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

“If Barack Obama had any indication that there was an issue, Barack Obama would not have had him as his vice president. Barack Obama trusted Joe Biden,” he said. “I trust Joe Biden. And those investigations have been done.”

Perez told ABC’s “This Week” that there have been “so many investigations” into Biden, including the vice presidential vetting process, which he called the “most comprehensive.”

The DNC chairman was defending his communications director’s response to The New York Times editorial board, which requested the DNC create an investigative panel to examine a sexual assault allegation made by former Senate aide Tara Reade.

The DNC called the concept “absurd” on Saturday.”

Tara Reade on Twitter

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

Tags:

electoral politics

tara reades accusations > biden

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Comments

Submitted by wokkamile on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 4:15pm

Also attys for Reade

@Marie could at the very least have her complete and submit a very complete sworn affidavit that details her allegations.

Is there anything preventing her from going under oath this way?

Christine Ford did. In addition, she went under oath when testifying before the senate. That's twice swearing under penalty of perjury that she is telling the truth. Huge difference right there in her allegations and those of TR.

Iirc, CBF also took and passed a polygraph. Not necessary, except as it might tend to show she is trying to tell the truth. I'm aware of its nonuse elsewhere -- though my understanding is this should be more accurately be put as it's not admissible unless both parties stipulate to its use and the court agrees to admit it.

#12.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1 could do for Reade is help her file requests for her records that are in the control of the various Senate offices - Biden's, SAA's, and Fair Practices'. Finding the complaint she claims to have filed and any other recorded information that would add to her credibility has to be seen as a long-shot and if nothing is found, that will add more to Biden's denial. If her complaint were to be found, it would only add to her original claim of inappropriate touching and feeling uncomfortable which is no more than what Biden often did on public and isn't of great concern to Democrats because Biden was called out on his behavior last year and has apologized. Also suspect that most people accept that Reade was one of many that Biden touched/pawed in that way. Reade's most recent allegation of sexual assault is far beyond what Biden has been called out on. Too far, imo and particularly within a few months of the multiple public reports on Packwood, for it to have been out of character for him. As such, only similar and credible reports from other women would make Reade's story more credible. Unfortunately, if such women exist, it's far less likely that they will now speak out than if a reporter attempted to find them before Reade told her story. That was a important component to breaking the Packwood story -- and even then with ten women, the Senate Ethics Committee slow-walked its investigation. It found something like forty witnesses and got its hands on Packwood's diary in which he revealed his sexual activities, and yet, that may not have been enough for the Senate to expel him. It was his financial misdeeds/crimes (also in his diary) that got him and led him to resign. Franken -- for far less egregious public behavior than Biden (and assuming there wasn't more egregious private behavior) -- was the DP and professional feminists sacrificial lamb. The DP and professional feminists have a propensity to hitch their wagons to the wrong characters, both Clintons and Biden (and back before 11/92 feminists were a strong support base for Packwood). Politicizing sexual harassment and assaults is a major failing of those professional feminists and then they wonder why a slob like Trump gets a pass from so many people.

Submitted by Marie on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 5:17pm

Reade doesn't have an attorney --

@wokkamile -- can't afford one and "MeToo" declined her request for legal help.

She did recently file a police report on the incident (fully aware that it was non-actionable by the police), and as it's a crime to file a false police report, that can be taken as her affidavit.

I'd never suggest that anyone take a polygraph test. It's junk science, but sociopaths tend to pass with flying colors.

Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 1:54am

Hi, Marie--thanks for the additional info. Considering

@Marie

trying to ask a couple of questions (on Twitter) regarding some of the reporting. Of course, probably won't get a reply, although, one never knows--got into a policy discussion 'back and forth' several years ago, with David Dayen )

Anyhoo, if only I could see her personnel file, I likely could make sense of it. I'm not sure whether the various reporters realize how vague or ambiguous their reporting is, since there are various venues to file complaints in the federal system. EEOC, utilizing a union grievance system, etc. Nothing I've read mentions any specifics--making a reference to HRO or the Senate Personnel Office doesn't cut it.

You mention,

It would be quite useless to file a complaint with a superior about the superior's boss.

Unfortunately, just like military personnel matters, in most instances, federal employees are expected to go up the proper chain-of-command, at least, in most grievance systems. So, if the Office Manager (Ms Baker) was her first-line supervisor, Reade probably had no choice, but to start with her.

Mollie

#12.1 who Reade filed her complaint with. The Union Adam Riquelmy April 3, 2019:

Reade said she spoke to U.S. Senate personnel about her concerns. Word got back to Biden’s office.

Business Insider, Rich McHugh April 27, 2020:

Before the alleged assault, Reade said, she had already complained to her superiors in Biden's office that the way Biden looked at her and touched her made her uncomfortable. She got no response, she said, and after the alleged assault was abruptly relieved of her duties managing interns. She said she later filed a complaint about her treatment — but not the about the assault allegation — with a Senate human-resources office. [emp added]

I had read both of those reports before viewing Reade's interview with Halper and her story seemed consistent to me. What I hadn't read was Ryan Grim's report which on this point does differ from the others:

Reade said that she filed a complaint about Biden’s harassment with Marianne Baker, effectively the office manager in the Biden office. The Biden campaign released a statement from Baker, which said that neither Reade nor any other employee had ever complained about improper behavior. “In all my years working for Senator Biden, I never once witnessed, or heard of, or received, any reports of inappropriate conduct, period — not from Ms. Reade, not from anyone,” ...

As I rarely read The Intercept because too much reporting there is IMO weak, I suspect that Grim misunderstood what Reade had said. Absent a clarification from Reade, my guess is that she may have complained to Baker (and possibly others in Biden's office), but she filed a complaint with the Senate personnel office and not with Baker. It would be quite useless to file a complaint with a superior about the superior's boss.

Around 1980 a somewhat odd and socially awkward company attorney that had done some decent work on a account for me was fired for the way he looked at the breasts of a young clerk who had filed a complaint with personnel. Nobody that I knew of doubted what the young women alleged nor that it disturbed her, and none of us could defend his behavior.

Only in the

—

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by Unabashed Liberal on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 9:19pm

Perhaps Biden's Office/Staff simply destroyed

the complaint she filed. (There's no mention of a complaint being filed through OPM, the Office Of Personnel Management.) The following excerpt is from a right-leaning (editorially) newspaper. Having said that, it does quote former officials who might have knowledge of how the Senate worked in the 90's.

Could a closed archive hold answers on Biden sexual misconduct claim?

by Emily Larsen & Joseph Simonson | April 17, 2020 12:01 AM

Adding more frustration for Reade as she hopes to prove her claims, individuals who worked in the Senate at the time say there’s little chance the document would be in the archives — or that it wouldn’t have been quickly destroyed after Reade’s initial complaint.

Over two decades of Biden’s 36 years in office came when Congress infamously faced some of the least amount of oversight of any federal institution or agency.

Donald Ritchie, historian emeritus of the United States Senate, who worked in the Senate Historical Office in the 1990s, said that record-keeping of agencies that handled workplace complaints like Reade’s operated with nearly complete impunity before the passage of the Congressional Accountability Act in 1995.

“I can understand why there’d be a problem with the paper trail,” Ritchie told the Washington Examiner as Reade tried to find the record of her complainant in Senate offices.

“That act provides a lot more support for people who lodge complaints against their boss now. Before then, everyone just got fired,” Ritchie said, who said many lawmakers griped to him that they regretted voting for the bill in the first place.

He added that any personnel complaints were often handled by each office individually. In other words, if a woman filed a complaint against her boss, a lawmaker had wide discretion on what to do.

Reade told the Washington Examiner that she is working on making an official request to access any of her own personnel records stored in Biden’s Senate archives.

and,

Information About Senators' Papers and Archives

The records created and maintained within a senator's office are the property of the member. Most senators donate their collections to a research repository in their home state when they leave office. At the repository, they are made available to researchers after an appropriate amount of time has passed. . . .

In general, members' collections include correspondence, memos, reports, press releases, appointment calendars, speeches, voting records, electronic files, automated indexes and data bases, photographs, and taped interviews that document the legislative and constituent services work of a typical office. They may include information on personal and political activities, developing legislation, providing services to constituents, press relations and media activities, and basic office administration. Many collections include papers from family members and from members' pre- and post-Senate careers. Because of their breadth and coverage, they are valued as major primary resources for study of America's past.

Mollie

—

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Submitted by wendy davis on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 10:27pm

closing time for me,

thank you all for a great conversation. tonight's closing song will be (as per café denizen greyson smythe): 'it's all just industrial disease'.

Warning lights are flashing down at Quality Control
Somebody threw a spanner and they threw him in the hole
There's rumors in the loading bay and anger in the town
Somebody blew the whistle and the walls came down
There's a meeting in the boardroom they're trying to trace the smell
There's leaking in the washroom there's sneak in personnel
Somewhere in the corridors someone was heard to sneeze
'Goodness me could this be Industrial Disease?'

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEn9wvz3teg]

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sun, 05/03/2020 - 10:55pm

Why in the blue blazes would ya bring attention to this?

Quick, when you think of the Catholic Church what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

Ah ok then pic.twitter.com/WUswTBv1A3

— pokey pup (@Whatapityonyou) May 3, 2020

Seriously lmao.

But umm doesn’t the church believe in thou shalt not kill? I’d think voting for war would be a green light to killery as Buckminster Fuller was fond of saying.

Hmm on further thoughts don’t the commandments say soy something about this topic?

—

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by sxu on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 12:02am

Mika question

Mika: Mr Vice President, do you remember Barack Obama?
Joe: No, not at all! I have nothing to do with that woman.
Jill: Joe, that is the answer to the next question.
Joe: Got it. But still I don't know this Obama lady.

Submitted by janis b on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 12:17am

Somehow, the reality of such an exchange could be possible,

@sxu

despite the gross absurdity of it.

Submitted by wendy davis on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 10:28am

LMAO!

@sxu

(as Jill looks at the ground or table and mumbles to #DementiaJoeBlow...)

Submitted by wendy davis on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 7:09pm

from tara reade's twitter account today:

The Attacks on Tara Reade are Unbelievable Bullshit; No, you’re not “asking questions,” you’re using rape apologist arguments' may 4, 2020, lyta gold, currentaffairs.com

Everybody already knows that Joe Biden is a notorious creep. It’s a punchline. The Daily Show joked about his gropery in 2015. Former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores has written that Biden planted a “long slow kiss” on her against her will. Female Secret Service agents complained that he swam naked in front of them even though it made them uncomfortable. Many people have known about Biden’s behavior for years, and they don’t care, because this country doesn’t care about women. It pretends to, sometimes, for political convenience, or for the occasional photo op. In photo ops, on multiple occasions, Joe Biden has sniffed the hair of women and little girls. There’s plenty of photographic and video evidence of this. At least seven women beside Tara Reade have accused Biden of inappropriate behavior. The problem isn’t that people aren’t AWARE. Most people are well aware. It’s just not important to them.

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