Thread by @STEMthebleeding

(Thread)
So let's unpack a little of what would take for @JoeBiden to get Tara's complaint removed. First, some basics.
It was 1993.
He was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ken Starr was the United States solicitor general at the time.

He was chosen to review Sen Packwood's diaries by the Senate.

So at this time, the Senate was already actively looking for any complaints of assault or harassment.

Then in 1994, the Ethics in Government Act passed, which gave the independent council near carte blanche when it came to reviewing documents, security cameras, and visitor logs.

Now when a formal complaint is filed of ANY nature, a copy goes to the issuer, a copy to the defendant, and a copy to goes to OPM as part of an audit trail. Doesn't matter whether it's frivolous or not. That's the policy. For both staffers and Senators, it goes both ways.

This is because persuant to federal records guidelines, the records of personnel do not belong to the Senators they work for. They belong to the government. They transfer, they keep the same record. It just changes who they report to until they no longer work for the Senate.

This outlines it fairly well. This was written in 1984, and clearly outlines what is personal vs agency property when it comes to records. This applies to all government employees.
justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-…

This process is used along with the ethics review system to ensure that all violations in ethics are not only documented in agency records, but also investigated.

govtrack.us/misconduct

Because of the work of Nancy Pelosi, we have the OCE: Office of Congressional Ethics, which establishes the guidelines we now are accustomed to regarding congressional misconduct. fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R…

Ironically, in 1993, the Joint Committee on Organization of Congress, Ethics Committee was underway in February.
The result? In the Senate at least, more empowerment to victims by allowing non-member inquiry panels to review complaints . archives-democrats-rules.house.gov/Archives/jcoc2…

So let's assume that Biden DID receive a complaint. Sake of argument. Pursuant to the rules set forth in JCOC, an independent panel would've reviewed the claim and determine whether there was evidence to proceed. This would be agency papers per the FOIA guidelines

and therefore a copy would be made for his record, a copy for her records, and a copy for OPM for audit purposes. This would've occurred during a period of time when the Senate just got embarrassed with Packwood's diaries and subsequent ethics hearing.
baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-19…

This trial started in January, and extended through November of 1993. The exact time the complaint was said to have been made. For those of you not alive or who forgot - it was a nonstop media fiasco at the Capitol in 1993.
supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/…

congress.gov/104/crpt/srpt1…

This is the Senate Ethics Committee report, where they clearly state that for months prior , they were taking depositions from any woman that would come forward regarding Packwood.

A video regarding the process of the investigation and the committee welcoming any woman who had a grievance to come forward and speak on the grounds of anonymity.
c-span.org/video/?40304-1…

Note the date. April, 1993. Right after JCOC, and right before the Ethics in Govt Act.

In short, this is the EXACT timeframe Reade's complaint was supposedly made.

Right in the middle of the largest Government Ethics Scandal since Watergate, with thousands of interviewers scouring the capital looking for a scoop.

So, in order for that record to disappear - Biden would've had to:
a) convince an independent panel in no mood for misconduct to not turn it over to the ethics board
b) convince them that 100% of the documentation is personal rather than agency property

c) hope Tara doesn't also tell the cacophony of reporters eager for a Packwood scoop that she was also harrassed
d) or doesn't report it to the open inquiry panel presiding in the senate.
e) hope that his conduct wasn't recorded on the massive CCTV network in Capitol hill

f) hope that OPM somehow loses any and all agency records of the complaint and
g) hope that as chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee, his records aren't audited by GAO regularly (narrator: they are.)

Impossible? Not for James Bond or Jason Bourne. But Joe Biden? Not likely that he gets through a-f for almost 30 years with out a single person noticing. Especially when you consider that his record (including his senate personal records) were public record ...

until they were donated in 2011. So that would mean that not only did the ethics committee, the special committee, and the solicitor general miss the complaint, so did Rick Davis, McCain's political analyst when he looked. So did Karl Rove. and 6 other campaigns since 1994

Odds? Well, speaking as someone who used to get shot at for a living - I wouldn't take them.

As many people have pointed out: While Starr was Inspector General in 1993, he was not Inspector General during the Clinton administration. He was replaced shortly after Clinton took office.

I thank you all for your clarification re: that.