Thread by @TaraReadeTruth

Today we’re going to talk about corrobation of Tara Reade’s allegations against Joe Biden.
thread 👇🏻
#WeBelieveTaraReade

Before we dive in, what is corroboration? @Wikipedia says
“Corroborating evidence (or corroboration) is evidence that tends to support a proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence, therefore confirming the proposition.”

In this case, the initial evidence is Tara Reade’s testimony, and the corroborating evidence comes from people she told about the harassment and assault. However, many have a flawed understanding of corroboration.

This @ABC article from 2018 delves into this misunderstanding and what the implications of it are, as well as the history of requiring corroboration in sexual assault cases. abcnews.go.com/US/kavanaugh-h…

"To say that a crime has not occurred without third-party corroboration is to demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding about crimes of sexual violence.” - Rebecca O'Connor, vice president of public policy at @RAINN abcnews.go.com/US/kavanaugh-h…

“In most jurisdictions across the country, corroboration is ‘valuable’ but not usually a legal requirement to prosecute or convict someone of a sexual offense.” abcnews.go.com/US/kavanaugh-h…

“Historically, experts say, publicly calling for corroboration in sexual assault cases has been used to promote the idea that people -- largely women and children -- who report sexual abuse shouldn't be believed.” abcnews.go.com/US/kavanaugh-h…

That being said, this is not a criminal trial, and yet Tara Reade has substantially more corroborating evidence to both her allegation of sexual harassment and her allegation of sexual assault than most survivors do.

For those who contradict Reade’s claims, I return to this quote: “I am not at all sure why such denials by invested non-witnesses are deemed more trustworthy or less “coached” than the witnesses who have come forward corroborating Tara Reade’s story.” newpol.org/a-therapists-p…

If you’re interested to learn more about what a false allegation actually is, please read this: nsvrc.org/sites/default/…

Now let’s get started!

1. The first person Tara told after the assault was her mother, Jeannette Altimus, who has since passed away.

1A. “Former Biden staffer Tara Reade’s mother called into the Larry King Live show in 1993 and discussed her daughter’s time with a “prominent senator.” theintercept.com/2020/04/24/new…

2. A few days after the assault, Reade told her friend who spoke to press off the record, describing “in vivid detail feeling ‘so physically sick’ at the disclosure that she ran to the bathroom & threw up in the middle of their conversation”

2A. @kthalps interviewed Tara’s anonymous friend, and you can listen to the interview here: soundcloud.com/katie-halper/t…

3. Tara told her brother, Collin Moulton. theintercept.com/2020/04/24/new…

4. Tara Reade told her former neighbor Lynda LaCasse, a Biden supporter, about the alleged assault in detail in 1995 or 1996: "This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it." businessinsider.com/former-neighbo…

4A. Listen to Lynda LaCasse’s interview on @democracynow here:

5. Lorraine Sanchez, a former colleague of Reade's, told @businessinsider that Reade talked in the mid-1990s of being sexually harassed by her former boss in Washington, DC. businessinsider.com/former-neighbo…

6. “former interns did tell the Times and Post that Reade—who had been supervising them—had been abruptly reassigned” theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

7. Court documents from her divorce corroborate that Reade told her ex husband about harassment in Biden’s office, and that “it was obvious that this event had a very traumatic effect” on her.

Read more here: sanluisobispo.com/news/politics-…

8. “A man who knew Tara Reade during law school says that she told him she was assaulted — marking at least the eighth person to corroborate aspects of her accusations against 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.”

It is clear that Tara Reade told multiple people to varying degrees about both the sexual harassment she experienced in Biden’s office as well as the assault. She has not been “debunked.” She has more evidence than most survivors, which is somehow still not enough.

Thank you for reading! Please share with someone who you think would benefit from this thread. Also, check out our website: taratruth.com
#MeToo #MeTooNotPolitics #TaraReade #JoeBiden