Matt Gaetz 'Disappointed' Biden Accuser Tara Reade

Tara Reade, former Democratic staffer who accused President Joe Biden of sexual assault, said she is "disappointed" in Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz for not helping her testify under oath to the American public.

Reade worked as a Biden aide three decades ago when he was a senator from Delaware, formally speaking out about the alleged assault just months prior to the 2020 presidential election. She filed a criminal complaint in April 2020, accusing the current president of pushing her against the wall in a Senate corridor and penetrating her with his fingers in 1993.

While Republicans initially capitalized on her allegations to attack Biden, Reade said interest in bringing her story to light has waned in the years since she came forward. She said she spoke with Gaetz multiple times, but he suddenly cut off communication with her in the first week of June.

"One of the biggest disappointments has been that Matt Gaetz hasn't stepped up," Reade told Newsweek. They wanted me to come June 7 to [Washington] D.C. and that's where we were gonna start the process [of me testifying before Congress]. And I was looking forward to doing that."

Reade announced on May 30 that she moved to Moscow, Russia, and that she was pursuing Russian citizenship. She said she moved there for her own safety, alleging that she's received death threats and that Gaetz expressed concerns for her safety if she stayed in the United States.

When asked about whether any behind-the-scenes deal is being worked out to have Reade testify remotely as a whistleblower, a Gaetz staffer told Newsweek they "have no plans to do this."

Reade said she also spoke to Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene prior to arriving in Russia. The Georgia Republican allegedly also encouraged her to testify against the sitting president. She has not been in contact with Greene since entering Russia.

Newsweek has reached out to Greene's office for comment.

Biden vehemently denied the accusations in the midst of his 2020 presidential campaign, addressing Reade's claims for the first time in May of that year. It led to questions about sealed records, both at the National Archives and the University of Delaware, detailing the alleged sexual impropriety. The university later said it would release records two years after Biden's exit from public life.

"Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims," Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said in 2020 when Reade's accusations were publicly relitigated. "We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false."

Reade has stated that her initial filing in 1993 did not mention assault, but that the sealed record would verify her claims of being "raped."

Months after the allegations made by Reade in 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a subpoena probing Twitter for information on Reade's accounts, according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller. The DOJ reportedly wanted grand jury testimony and to provide "all subscriber information" from Reade's accounts.

Those documents remain sealed, according to Reade, which is an important reason she reached out to Gaetz and Greene—to have immunity from any potential retaliation should she testify under oath.

She was investigated by the Monterey County District Attorney's Office in 2020 while testifying as an expert on domestic violence cases, Politico reported that year, due to potentially lying under oath and fabricating her qualifications. The county's district attorney ultimately declined to file perjury charges against Reade "because of the difficulty in proving the materiality of her false testimony," according to the Monterey County Weekly—even though Reade was found to have lied about her credentials.

Lucy Flores, former Nevada assemblywoman, alleged in 2020 that Biden kissed the back of her head and smelled her hair without permission during a 2014 campaign rally. Senator Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate at the time, said he had "no reason" to doubt Flores' allegations.

"My brain couldn't process what was happening. I was embarrassed," Flores wrote in The Cut at the time. "I couldn't move, and I couldn't say anything. I wanted nothing more than to get Biden away from me."

A spokesperson for Biden had responded to Flores' allegations, saying, "Neither then, nor in the years since, did he or the staff with him at the time have an inkling that Ms. Flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall what she describes."

Flores, who said she wouldn't vote for Biden in the 2020 Democratic primaries, intended to still vote for him in a general election over Donald Trump.

Radha Stirling, Reade's attorney and founder of Due Process International, told Newsweek that she and Reade are exploring submitting a proffer agreement to Gaetz and other potential members of Congress in exchange for testimony.

Stirling called it a "real shame" that Congress has lost interest in Reade's testimony. She called her testimony "important" and said Reade still plans to put her account on record, possibly through her attorneys.

"And we're also looking to perhaps ... get other people in similar circumstances—a group of people together who can testify to that weaponization with very similar circumstances to Tara. Not regarding sexual assault, but just the type of target that she's received," Stirling said.