Tara Reade, a former aide to President Joe Biden when he was a senator who has accused Biden of sexual assault, said Tuesday she has applied for citizenship with the Russian Federation because she no longer feels safe in the United States.
Reade held a news conference on Tuesday that was livestreamed on Twitter in which she said while applying with the Russian Federation, she was hoping to maintain her U.S citizenship. Attending the news conference with Reade was Maria Butina, a convicted Russian spy who spent 18 months in a U.S. prison. Butina, now a member of Russia’s parliament, said she would help fast-track Reade’s application for Russian citizenship.
"I'm still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good," Reade told Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news agency. “"I feel very surrounded by protection and safety. And I just really so appreciate Maria and everyone who's been giving me that at a time when it's been very difficult to know if I'm safe or not.
“I just didn't want to walk home and walk into a cage or be killed, which is basically my two choices. [The decision to go to Russia] was very difficult. I'm not an impulsive person. … My dream is to live in both places, but it may be that I only live in this place and that's OK."
Reade’s accusations against Biden emerged during the 2020 presidential campaign. She accused Biden of sexual assault in 1993, telling The New York Times he pinned her to a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing and penetrated her with his fingers. A friend said Reade told her the details of the allegation at the time. Another friend and a brother of Reade’s said she told them over the years about a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden. Biden has denied the allegation.
Other women have come forward claiming inappropriate contact involving Biden, but the president has denied all allegations.
In March, Newsweek reported U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., invited Reade to give a transcribed interview, but Reade has yet to be interviewed. Reade, who said she is expected to testify about the weaponization of Biden’s FBI and Justice Department against U.S. citizens, claimed Gaetz told her he was worried about her “physical safety” in the U.S.
“As a U.S. citizen to hear a U.S. congressman basically say they couldn’t protect me in a whistleblower case is stunning,” she said. “It makes me angry.”
Reade, who voiced her support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and does not regard Moscow as an enemy, said there are a lot of Americans who feel unsafe. She said they need to take action to protect themselves and their families "and to really look at who you're voting for."
"We need systemic change,” Reade said. “So, participate in that process and try to take command of your democracy if you want a democracy, because right now, it's in disarray," Reade said. "And that's the problem. And as far as like going to another safe haven, I mean, there are many Americans here, and I don't want to out a bunch of Americans, but there are people here that are coming to Russia — much like back in the day when Soviet Union people defected over to the U.S. – now you have the opposite. Now you have U.S. and European citizens looking for safe haven here. And luckily, the Kremlin is accommodating. So, we're lucky."
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