Biden Financially Linked to Office Withholding Tara Reade's Sexual Assault Documents
Officials at University of Delaware are withholding complaint filed by Reade in 1993
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Former Vice President Joe Biden is financially linked to several officials who sit on the board at the University of Delaware - the office of which is withholding documents related to the sexual assault complaint filed by his accuser, Tara Reade.
The University of Delaware keeps a trove of documents related to Joe Biden’s career, and in particular, his time as a senator in the state.
Biden was recently accused of sexually assaulting Tara Reade in 1993 when she worked as a staffer in his Senate office.
Reade says she filed an official complaint about the alleged rape shortly after the incident but claims she was silenced and forced out her job, effectively ending her career in Washington D.C.
The university reportedly holds a total of 1,875 boxes and 415 gigabytes of Biden's Senate records — which he gave to the institution eight years ago.
Biden is now facing increasing calls to tell the University of Delaware - which is refusing to release the documents - to make the records public.
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According to a new report by News Pushed, however, several members of the board at the University of Delaware have both personal and financial relationships with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
According to The New York Times, Reade, who alleges that Biden forcibly kissed her and penetrated her with his fingers without her consent during their encounter in 1993, filed a written complaint with a “Senate personnel office” in 1993.
She told the Daily Caller that the complaint might be among the documents that the university is keeping under wraps.
So far, the university has refused to make the records public.
“The gift agreement signed when the papers were donated is not a public document,” said Andrea Boyle Tippett, a spokeswoman for the university.
Under an initial agreement, the university said it will keep the records sealed for two years after Biden retires from public office.
The university later appeared to change the terms of the release, shortly before Biden announced his White House bid, saying they won’t make the documents available until December 31, 2019, or until he “retires from public life.”
The university’s Board of Trustees has “entire control and management of the affairs of the university,” and there aren’t any bylaws that “shall diminish or reduce the Board’s plenary authority over all matters related to the control and management of the affairs of the University,” according to the school’s charter.
It has now emerged, however, that some members on the university’s board are either personally or financially linked to the former vice president, according to Fox News.
John Cochran, the chairman of the board, is a former CEO of American credit card company MBNA and has donated to all of Biden’s campaigns throughout the years.
In 2008, columnist Byron York reported in a piece that Cochran bought Biden’s house in February 1996 and paid “top dollar” – $1.2 million – for it.
“MBNA gave Cochran a lot of money—$330,000—to help with ‘expenses’ related to the move,” wrote York.
“There was a concerted effort among top MBNA executives to support Biden…" he noted.
"According to Federal Election Commission records, MBNA became by far Biden’s biggest single source of contributions.
"Company employees gave him $62,850 in the 1996 cycle, while the second-biggest contributor gave just $21,000.”
MBNA later hired the ex-VP's infamous son, Hunter Biden, who, according to one MBNA source, bragged about his high salary.
In addition to Cochran, seven other board members contributed to Biden’s political bids.
Terri Kelly, who joined the board in 2014, gave the maximum legal amount to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2019, according to federal election records.
Carol Ammon, who has been on the board since 2013, has contributed over $10,000 to the campaign and affiliated PACs.
Others include John Paradee, a lawyer who’s been a board member since 2018, Chai Gadde, Claire DeMatteis, who worked as Biden’s counsel, Delaware Gov. John Carney, who gave Biden’s campaign over $1,000, and William Lafferty, who’s donated $2,500.
Biden still hasn’t addressed the allegations directly but his campaign has denied Reade’s account.
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Reade and some publications have urged Biden to release the records as more circumstantial evidence has emerged in recent days to support her story.
This week, the New York Times said Biden incorrectly cited its reporting on the allegations to defend himself.
Last month, the paper acknowledged that it removed a section from that story that mentioned the accusations against Biden of inappropriate touching after his campaign’s request.
