Tara Reade, who accused Biden of assault, says she moved to Russia

Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who accused President Biden of sexual assault while running for president in 2020, said on Tuesday she had moved to Russia and was applying for citizenship there, according to Sputnik. a news site run by the Russian government.

Ms Reade told Sputnik in a press conference that if her “dream is to live” in both the United States and Russia, she might reside only in Russia because that’s where she feels “surrounded by protection and security”.

In 2019, Ms Reade, who briefly worked as an aide to Mr Biden’s Senate office in 1993, accused him of touching her inappropriately. Then in 2020, around the time he looked likely to win the Democratic presidential nomination, she accused him of sexual assault. Mr. Biden flatly denied his allegations.

In interviews with The New York Times in April 2020, no former Biden staffer could corroborate the details of Ms. Reade’s allegation or recall similar behavior by Mr. Biden towards her or any female. A friend of Ms Reade said she gave her the details of the allegation at the time.

In May 2020, a prominent #MeToo-era lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, dropped Ms Reade as a client as her credibility came under scrutiny after the University of Antioch disputed its claim to have earned a bachelor’s degree from its Seattle campus. .

On Tuesday, Ms Reade told Sputnik that although her decision to go to Russia “was very difficult”, she believed she would be safer there.

“As for going to another safe haven, I mean, there are a lot of Americans here, and I don’t want to take out a group of Americans, but there are people here who come to Russia “said Ms Reade.

She added that “fortunately the Kremlin is accommodating”.

“So we’re lucky,” she said.

His departure for Russia comes as Moscow and Washington quarrel over the war in Ukraine, which President Vladimir V. Putin presents as an existential struggle with the West, which supports Kiev.