THREAD on Reade’s credibility and motives, since she is the accuser who bears the burden of proof. Next Biden’s patterns in relation to harassment and assault. Finally, making a judgment.
Thread on claims/collaboration on separate thread, appended to end of this thread.
Thread on claims/collaboration on separate thread, appended to end of this thread.
Motive / bias:
“Pivot I”: Reade’s public comments on Biden shift dramatically in 2018. Before this, she praised his help for victims of domestic abuse, cancer research, and even his efforts to combat sexual assault.
“Pivot I”: Reade’s public comments on Biden shift dramatically in 2018. Before this, she praised his help for victims of domestic abuse, cancer research, and even his efforts to combat sexual assault.
In 2018, pivots to harsh criticism, calling him “Blue Trump,” shopping critical stories to various outlets, including *Trump WH*
"Blue Trump" article: medium.com/@AlexandraTara…
Note: references to articles from first thread not given again here.
Note: references to articles from first thread not given again here.
Reade also claims to have shopped the assault story to the Warren and Harris campaigns, which again indicates a political motive. An unnamed source from the Harris campaign denies this; Reade says Warren campaign’s response was a form letter.
People change opinions on politicians for numerous reasons, and perhaps she only supported his work, so let's consider another change from the same time.
“Pivot II”: also in 2018, view of Putin changes. In 2017, promotes Mueller, and criticism of Russian law decriminalizing domestic abuse. FALSELY told Vox in 2020 stopped supporting Putin after “learning more about domestic violence in Russia,” since she knew about it *in 2017*
In 2018, begins writing fiercely pro-Putin essays, one of which is first published in Russian. Later takes down essays, and in 2020 claims “I don’t support Putin at all,” BUT continues praising him and challenging Putin criticisms through *February 2020*
She was denying support for Putin as early as May 2019, shortly after “touching” story published. Later in 2019, she defended Putin numerous times, once in response to a tweet by a profile called “Friends of Putin."
Also to Vox and Salon, claimed essays praising Putin were part of work on a novel set in Russia, influenced by Noam Chomsky’s writings and Oliver Stone’s documentaries. As we’ve seen, this is not borne out by facts.
In her interview with Megyn Kelly, Reade suggested her writings praising Putin were “just a joke.” Again, this contradicts earlier claims, including a 2018 posting from her Quora account, in which she asks people’s thoughts on her article, with no hint of humor or irony.
In 2017, Reade filed for bankruptcy seeking relief for $400,000+. To be clear, no direct evidence she was offered financial help for serving Russian agenda, but could explain the contemporaneous “double pivot,” and fits GRU’s pattern of using financial leverage to "recruit.”
Also noteworthy that on Quora, she followed only three people, one a former Soviet KGB propagandist and self-described “Putinist,” another a former Russian soldier, and the third a Russian businessman. These are the type of contacts that could be used to set up such a deal.
In case you’re not aware: Putin is currently actively interfering in the 2020 election, and his bot/troll army and propaganda outlets have attacked Biden far more than any other 2020 Dem candidate.
Some Biden supporters have suggested Ms. Reade is a mentally ill woman who appeared on the Dr. Phil show, claiming Putin was her lover. Salon (link above) has spoken with the family of this person, and confirmed it is NOT her.
Returning to credibility, Reade accused of lying and stealing from a group with which she volunteered ("PMR"); one person’s word against another (they do have docs), but if true, suggests pattern. Reade claimed owner committed fraud, owner threaten to take Reade to claims court.
Full thread by group owner here:
Exchange w/Reade here:
Exchange w/Reade here:
Brian and Eddie Krassenstein have documented a similar incident of accused defrauding a non-profit animal rescue, the Steinbeck County Equine Clinic.
medium.com/@eddiekrassens…
medium.com/@eddiekrassens…
Also, just three months apart in 2020, claimed she has and has not worked for political campaigns. We have seen several contradictory stories already, and we will see more below, starting with her claims related to candidate support in 2020.
Claims she originally supported Warren, moved to Sanders after Warren dropped out. This is FALSE: she tweeted her choice to vote for Bernie *two weeks before first votes were cast* and that she feared a Biden-Warren ticket *five days before* Warren exited.
These views aren't surprising, as she claimed in March 2020 she ONLY gets news from Sanders staffer (and smear artist) David Sirota, "bernie supporters," or her daughter. Also told Kelly she’s “not here to influence a national election,” but as we'll see, that’s not true.
Sent out tweet just after midnight on February 4th (essentially the night of the IA caucuses), writing, “I say to Joe Biden tock tock.” This was in response to a tweet from “The Bern Report” suggesting Biden was doing well (recall that no results were available that evening).
~10:30PM on Super Tuesday (March 3rd), basically the moment it was clear Biden and Sanders were last two viable candidates, responding to a tweet on the matchup: "Timing... wait for it... tic toc." Three weeks later, she made her first public claim of assault.
ST tweet in response to Ryan Grim of The Intercept, whose staff includes Halper. Reade indicates motive *three other times* saying story “disqualifies” Biden, retweeting interview and telling Sanders “Please stay in,” and telling campaign senior advisor Nina Turner the same.
In Kelly interview, Reade claimed the “tick tock” tweets were a reference to attempts to get a lawyer with Time’s Up, but as noted in other thread, she hadn’t spoken to those lawyers about suing Biden, but those who claimed she is a Russian agent.
On 3/15, “Beware the Ides of March,” followed by anti-Biden statements. On 3/17, “f*ck Biden #DemExit,” which contradicts claim from Kelly interview that she left Dems because key party figures didn’t find her assault claim credible. On 3/24, day of Halper interview, "very soon."
The Intercept: far-left, pro-Sanders / anti-Biden, staff includes Syrian truthers, including Halper, who recently spoke on Reade on Putin's propaganda outlet, Sputnik. Intercept smeared "establishment" Dem Gil Cisneros w/o checking facts.
IOW, this fits their pattern / agenda.
IOW, this fits their pattern / agenda.
Worth noting Reade first approached pro-Bernie media w/assault claim, and generally avoided on-camera interviews with non-partisan figures (in part on advice of Nathan Robinson). As we have seen, these interviews have often had to be vetted / corrected by other media outlets.
Biden’s patterns:
Several women have claimed Biden was not respectful of personal space, and prone to unwanted touching of a non-sexual nature. Seven women, including Reade, came forward with stories in May 2019.
Several women have claimed Biden was not respectful of personal space, and prone to unwanted touching of a non-sexual nature. Seven women, including Reade, came forward with stories in May 2019.
There are pics/vids of this pattern, and it's confirmed by Senate staffers from the time in question to NYT. On this point, however, it is also worth noting that Biden, a heterosexual man, has exhibited the same pattern with men, suggesting it is not necessarily sexual in nature.
Here is a full account of those women who have accused Biden of inappropriate or unwelcome touching.
businessinsider.com/joe-biden-alle…
businessinsider.com/joe-biden-alle…
He's rightly criticized for this, and promised to change, but it doesn't cross the line to harassment or assault, both requiring sexual intent, even by the broadest possible interpretation of the 1980 federal statute and pursuant rulings.
Additionally, none of the other seven women who raised this issue in 2019 claimed assault when asked in 2020, nor did Biden’s staff to NYT, who further noted that Biden did not have a reputation for harassment or assault in DC. In short, it does NOT fit his pattern.
This is important, since those who commit this type of assault rarely do so only once, seeing all women merely as objects for their gratification. In contrast, Biden's staff from the time describe the environment as supportive and professional.
Making a judgment:
Reade’s story of Biden violating personal space and non-sexual touching is relatively consistent, even if "drinks" part is problematic. Contemporaneous corroboration of story being told consistent, and it matches his pattern.
Reade’s story of Biden violating personal space and non-sexual touching is relatively consistent, even if "drinks" part is problematic. Contemporaneous corroboration of story being told consistent, and it matches his pattern.
Assault claim is inconsistent in several details, many parts of the story are problematic, others are self-contradictory from one telling to another, and contemporaneous corroboration of story told, but with significant asterisks.
Stories on firing highly inconsistent or contradictory, numerous parts problematic or contradictory, and contemporaneous accounts suggest various possibilities.
Women often face unfair skepticism on assault claims, so let's compare with an allegation proven to be false. In 2018, several women accused Roy Moore of sexual assault, all providing either evidence or witnesses of inappropriate behavior. Then, Jaime Phillips...
claimed Moore impregnated her at 15. Story had inconsistencies, and her internet postings and discussions with reporters suggested a possible political motive. Turns out she was sent by the right-wing Project Veritas to prove media outlets were just "out to get" Moore.
Returning to recent false claim of Biden commenting on 14 year old girl’s breasts, we also find a possible political motive, as the woman turned out to be the niece of Biden’s 2008 opponent for the DE Senate seat, Christine O’Donnell.
Similar smears were attempted against Pete Buttigieg and Dr. Anthony Fauci, with “victims” beings recruited to make false allegations. I mention these here to additional examples of politically motivated accusations.
We have seen similar issues with Reade’s claim, including inconsistencies and contradictions (incl. sudden shift of political support), and a clear political motive not limited to stopping Biden, but also helping Sanders specifically.
As The Intercept’s Glen Greenwald noted in regard to the rape charges against Julian Assange, "an accusation is not proof of guilt." These cases are difficult, since those making claims are "imperfect" people, and the accused deserves presumption of innocence. We make a judgment.
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Thread on claims and corroborations:
