Democratic Rep Ilhan Omar says she believes Tara Reade's sexual assault allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden. '...
Democratic Rep Ilhan Omar says she believes Tara Reade's sexual assault allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden.
'I do believe Reade,' Omar told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper. 'Justice can be delayed, but should never be denied.'
The first-term Minnesota congresswoman, who endorsed and campaigned for Sen Bernie Sanders during his failed presidential bid, said that if it were up to her, Biden would not be the Democratic nominee.
She later confirmed on Twitter that she still plans to vote for Biden to get President Donald Trump out of the White House.
Reade, 56, claims that Biden pinned her against a wall, reached under her skirt and assaulted her when she worked as an aide in his Senate office in 1993.
Biden has strenuously denied the claims that have roiled his presidential campaign over the past several weeks.
He addressed the allegations in an interview with MSNBC earlier this month, saying that anyone who believes Reade 'probably shouldn't vote for me'.
'I wouldn't vote for me if I believed Tara Reade,' he added.
Democratic Rep Ilhan Omar (left) says she believes the sexual assault allegations levied against Joe Biden by his former Senate aide Tara Reade (right)
Biden has strenuously denied the claims that have roiled his presidential campaign over the past several weeks. He addressed the allegations in an interview with MSNBC earlier this month (pictured), saying that anyone who believes Reade 'probably shouldn't vote for me'
Omar, who campaigned for Sen Bernie Sanders (pictured together in March) during his presidential bid, said that if it were up to her, Biden would not be the Democratic nominee
Omar confirmed that she still plans to vote for Biden in a tweet on Monday morning
Reade was dropped by her attorney Douglas Wigdor on Friday as new details emerged about her past - including questions over whether she lied about her education.
Wigdor, a leading attorney who represented alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein and Bill O'Reilly, offered no specifics on why he and his firm are no longer representing Reade but said the decision was not a reflection on the veracity of her claims.
In a statement Wigdor said he and others at his firm still believe Reade's allegation against Biden, that he digitally penetrated her and groped her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building when she worked in his Senate office 27 years ago.
The attorney said his firm believed that Reade has been 'subjected to a double standard' in the media and that much of the coverage surrounding her biography had little to do with her claims against Biden.
Reade released this photo of herself out with friends in Washington, DC, in 1992 or 1993, during the time she worked in Biden's Senate office
Wigdor fielded numerous media questions in recent weeks surrounding inconsistencies in Reade's biography and the legal challenges she's faced.
This week, The Associated Press and other media outlets published extensive biographies of Reade, revealing she appears to have exaggerated her educational achievements, was mired in endless financial difficulties and faced frequent lawsuits with individuals who said she defrauded them or failed to pay bills.
Defense lawyers in Monterey County last week began investigating whether Reade committed perjury when she testified under oath that she had a college degree from Antioch, as first reported Friday by The New York Times.
Antioch University told the AP that Reade never obtained a diploma from the school, and Reade herself could not produce evidence of the degree she claims to have earned there.
Reade was dropped by her attorney Douglas Wigdor (pictured) on Friday as new details emerged about her past - including questions over whether she lied about her education
Lawyer Roland Soltesz peppered her with questions about her background before she qualified as an expert witness on domestic violence in a 2018 attempted murder trial.
She also touted her experience in Biden's office, saying she served as a legislative aide and helped work on the Violence Against Women Act, Soltesz said.
His client was convicted and is now serving a potential life sentence.
'She was a good witness,' Soltesz said. 'She came across as believable.'
Wigdor is well known for his work on prominent cases related to sexual harassment and assault.
He represented six women who accused Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer, of sexual misconduct.
He has also represented a number of Fox News employees in cases alleging gender and racial discrimination at the network.
And he's a frequent political donor, giving tens of thousands to Democratic politicians in New York and about $55,000 to Donald Trump in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Wigdor's firm originally said in a statement that they had taken on Reade as a client because they believed 'every survivor has the right to competent counsel'.
Wigdor told the AP at the time that he thought Reade had struggled to find a lawyer to represent her because many attorneys in his space 'tend to be Democrats or liberals,' and Reade has accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexual assault.
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