As it has on a national scale, the question of whether there should be an independent investigation into Tara Reade’s sexual assault claim against Joe Biden has deepened divisions within the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
Last week, a group of local Dems including Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, state Assembly candidate Alex Lee and Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority trustee Shay Franco-Clausen submitted a “Resolution to Believe All Women” to the local Democratic Central Committee.
The emergency resolution—sent to Party Chair Bill James less than an hour before the committee’s May 7 meeting—called for an impartial inquiry into the allegations and for Biden to pull out of the race if Reade’s testimony is deemed credible.
“Survivors and allies are tired of seeing powerful individuals, especially men, commit abuse freely without consequences,” read the statement authored by California Young Democrats Deputy Regional Director Jessica Matthew and fellow Dems Jennie Hutchinson and Johannes Muenzel.
For Matthew, the issue is personal. And for many Americans, the allegations took on new urgency after Reade spoke at length about them with ex-Fox host Megyn Kelly.
“As a survivor of sexual assault and harassment, I know how hard it is to come forward and share your story,” Matthew told Fly. “We are instantly judged, instantly silenced. Our pasts are looked at and scrutinized for reasons why we deserved it or asked for it. We need to believe women and take accusations of sexual assault seriously, no matter how much we respect and like the accused. Our local party platform states that we do not tolerate sexual harassment or assault and believe that all allegations should be investigated. That is exactly what we are asking.”
But in an email obtained exclusively by Fly, James asked the committee’s members to vote no on taking up the proposal at the meeting because he didn’t want to rush it.
“Regrettably, none of the proponents contacted me in advance of this email being sent to inform me of their intention to submit the resolution at this late hour as an ‘emergency resolution,” James wrote. “Your ‘no’ vote will result in the matter being considered at our upcoming Executive Board meeting, allowing all members time to review the text, research the allegations and participate in a more considered process to decide how the Central Committee should express its position on the subject matter of the resolution.”
The Enough is Enough Voter Project led by Dauber began petitioning for an independent investigation into Reade’s claims on April 29 and, to this day, remains the only national women’s advocacy organization to do so. But the political action committee has since been joined by the New York Times editorial board and two Democratic U.S. senators.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that so many Democratic women leaders are defending Biden on the basis of his ‘good character’ and proclaiming that they do not believe Ms. Reade even though there has not yet been any real investigation,” Dauber said. “This sends the message to survivors that whether or not women leaders support you depends on who your assailant is and who his friends are. That is going to chill victims from coming forward. That is unacceptable.”
We need an independent, impartial investigation commissioned by the @DNC and conducted by a neutral, trustworthy entity in a trauma informed manner that takes these allegations seriously. Join our call here: https://t.co/HAotD9D8Yo
— EnoughIsEnough Voter Project (@EnoughVoter) April 29, 2020
While 19 individuals signed on to the resolution, Silicon Valley party insiders say there are a number of members against the idea of scrutinizing Biden just months away from his run against another accused predator: Donald Trump.
Women’s “liberation” has fallen on very hard times for Democrats…
/LurkingVariables
I am a woman and a lifelong Democrat. Those facts not withstanding, I believe in finding out as much as I can before I pass judgment. I’ve been skeptical of Tara Reade’s changing stories and found this Politico article to be very interesting. After reading it, I find myself even more skeptical of her charges against Joe Biden.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/tara-reade-left-trail-of-aggrieved-acquaintances-260771
It’s 2024, Stupid.
The presidential election is over and Trump has been preapproved for another 4 years. Even if you don’t like Trump, the idea of a 78 year old person who can barely get up in the morning and speak a single coherent sentence running the country is idiotic even to the DNC.
You know it, I know it, Everybody knows it, Biden did it. Who cares about an event that happened 20+ years ago ? If you were going to vote for Biden before this story happened then you most likely still will and the converse is true as well.
Maybe the DNC can figure a way to dump Biden before he gets nominated. If they don’t then they should just save the money for 2024. The cynic in me says that the professional politicians have already written Biden off and they are just getting their stories straight to blame the loss on somebody else.
> called for an impartial inquiry into the allegations
An impartial inquiry?
Democrats?
What were you thinking? Who are you trying to kid?
I am a democrat; I voted for Biden. He was never a choice for me because of this and other type of history through his political career. When the option came to Sanders or Biden, the choice was simple. I rather vote for a male with sexual perversions than for a communist. This sexually perverted man is going to die soon. Communists pass their tendencies to new generations. Communism cause hunger, physical, mental, and other detrimental harm to individuals and societies. Cuba and Venezuela are vividly modern examples of this. For this, I rather vote for Biden or Trump but never Bernie Sanders, a Fidel Castro admirer. Tell me who you admire and I will tell you who you are. Biden and Trump are sexually perverted men. Any of those two is a better option than Sanders. #NeverBernieSanders #BernieSandersCommunist #BernieSandersAntisemite DIGA NO A LOS COMUNISTAS Y ANTISEMITAS! DIGA NO A BERNIE SANDERS!
> I am a democrat; I voted for Biden.
I have no idea what people who believe they are “democrats” think that a democrat is?
I gather that many of them think that “democracy” means majority rule, or rule by the fifty-one percent.
Do “democrats” think that a government by the smartest fifty-one percent would have the same results as a government by the stupidest fifty-one percent?
Do you think it’s easier for Biden to get smart people to vote for him or stupid people?
The moral of the story “Harvey”, in which James Stewart has lengthy conversations in a bar with a 6-foot rabbit named Harvey, is that it’s nice to be smart, but it’s smart to be nice. Do you want laws made by the meanest 51% or the nicest?
Orale! Pero, diga NO a Biden tambien.
All these Young Democrats and other special interest political groups should get this message straight. The majority of democrats are moderate not extremist or what they call themselves “progressive,” You all could not help Sanders or Wareen win. We the moderates are playing to win. The sexually perverted Biden will be nominated. We are applying the evil taking over evil principle. Your vote will truly be for the Vice President, Kamala, Amy, or any other. In this world, there are times you have to play dirty when your goal is to destroy a big crook. This is the plan, a well-liked sexually perverted man will take over the job of a well-disliked king of sexual perversions. Then KAMALA or Amy. #VoteJoeBiden #NeverBernieSanders
The 2020 election is over as Trump has been preapproved for another 4 years.
Moderate Democrats and disengaged Republicans are United to destroy a common threat, Trump. We do not need the extreme left or right monkeys. The tea party and the dream deal party can get together to enjoy a cup of green tea. The rest of us do not need you and will run over you if necessary. Biden and Trump not only share common sexual perversions, they both have the ability to unite both parties!
Trump wins because given the choice between someone that knows what he is doing versus someone that can barely keep focused for a minute then the choice becomes obvious.
Felix,
Come on now, I told you months ago long before the fist primary the fix was in, hair sniffing Joe was in bought and paid for, and Kamala didn’t have a chance. But please notice the DNC had no problem over riding the vote of the people to install this bribe seeking money hound, He’s been bought and paid for and he’ll do what ever the puppets masters in Beijing, Ukraine and Moscow tell him to do.
The party’s are united? You must be smoking Crack and looking through a kaleidoscope.
Your party would destroy the entire country and kill everyone in it by starvation to get control for their communist masters!
Gun, I am talking about the Lincoln Project people. They are already helping Biden win. They are Republicans with tons of money to spend on ads. Moderates’ first job was to kick Bernie out! Trump is next!
What are Democrats divided over ?
Their standard is if a woman accuses a man she must be believed or your a racists’, sexist, misogynist, pig! There will be no due process you are guilty as charged until you can prove your actually a transsexual, or a Democrat running for office.
The party system is the problem. Far too many people vote the party line. Lack of party loyalty can cost you your re-election. Then there are the lobbyists and the major money contributors. The people come in last.
The VP choice is crucial for the Democrats. If Biden wins, I put the over/under for invocation of the 25th Amendment to sideline Biden at two years, and I’m taking the under.
> We need an independent, impartial investigation commissioned by the
@DNC and conducted by a neutral, trustworthy entity in a trauma informed manner that takes these allegations seriously.
How about an independent, impartial investigation conducted by Rush Limbaugh? It would be FAR, FAR more interesting AND have higher ratings.
You want to get the word out, right?
As Ronald Reagan said: “Box office beats critics”.
May I suggest Judge Roy Bean?
Megyn Kelly did a great job. She asked the tough questions as well as the soft balls.
What I can’t stand is the hypocrisy of those who have committed principles when it’s convenient, but then try to tell us we misunderstood their supposed principles when it’s inconvenient.
> I am talking about the Lincoln Project people.
The Lincoln Project? !
An utterly addled and confused flock of simpleton virtue signallers.
https://lincolnproject.us/
“DEDICATED AMERICANS
PROTECTING DEMOCRACY”
Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. He wasn’t dedicated to “protecting democracy”. He was dedicated to “preservng the Union [a.k.a, “our Republican form of government]”.
“However, the priority for all patriotic Americans must be a shared fidelity to the Constitution and a commitment to defeat those candidates who have abandoned their constitutional oaths, regardless of party. Electing Democrats who support the Constitution over Republicans who do not is a worthy effort.”
Democrats don’t have “fidelity to the Constitution”; they advocate “majority rule”. To hell with your Constitutionally articulated “unalienable rights endowed by our Creator”.
If “the majority” wants to deprive hated and reviled minorities and individuals of their rights, well, that’s what “democracy” is all about.
Athenian “democracy” forced Socrates to kill himself by drinking hemlock for the crime of “impiety”.
Impiety was the Athenian term for “political incorrectness”.
Go Lincoln Project! We are united on this!!!
There isn’t any significant number of Republicans that will be voting for Biden.
Why is the same party that disingenuously created the #BelieveAllWomen rallying cry for partisan political purposes now changing its story because their presumptive presidential nominee stood accused?
In 2018, the Senate adopted a precedent to “Believe All Women,” and conducted a character assassination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the basis of the flimsiest accusations of sexual assault when he was a teenager 37 years previously. Joe Biden must be held to the same standard as Judge Kavanaugh.
Besides his alleged but believable sexual misbehavior, Biden suffers from dementia and delusion that China is not a threat. He & his family collect far too much money from foreign sources who are threats.
There is no confusion here.
Tara Reade was charged with check fraud on August 2, 1993, and the Biden Senate office forced her to resign in lieu of termination within the end of the week. She’s a RUSSIAN PLANT who posted love letters to Putin on Twitter. She lied to her then husband because she was hiding that she had a criminal charge pending.
….If a Senate Chief of Staff discovered that a Staff Assistant had charges pending in a California court for check fraud, that explains why #TaraReade was suddenly demoted, relieved of her duties chaperoning the summer interns, not allowed to go to public Senate events.
…So when #TaraReade’s boyfriend asks her why she was fired from Biden’s office, she makes up a sob story about sexual harassment.
She did tell him that “she was having a problem with work”, she did “strike a deal” with Ted Kaufman – but she lied to him about what.
…So all of these supposed “corroborating witnesses” dug up could have been telling the “truth” – Tara Reade DID tell them that X, Y, and Z happened.
But what she told them all was a lie – a cover story for how she was fired for check fraud.
****Bidens staff could not bring it up because it’s protected under the privacy act! Had they publicly stated she was given offer to resign instead termination l l, Tara can sue them for violating her privacy! She knows that
https://twitter.com/ZacAKAMadu/status/1258781555981537281?s=20
__________________
Prominent lawyer, Trump donor representing Biden accuser – Russian connections: Douglas Wigdor, former editor to Sputnik
https://apnews.com/10d2842623b2c299e2c673bf5a9e23ff
https://theweek.com/speedreads/913318/tara-reades-lawyers-include-trump-donor-former-sputnik-editor
Boy! The Democrats REALLY know how to trash a woman . . . when the woman needs trashing.
When men fight with women, men pull their punches.
But when women fight with women, it’s CLAWS OUT!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Michele Dauber or Pamela Karlan had a talon in this.
López, Biden tiene mucha cola que le pisen. He has created a history harassment just like Trump. I am not saying Tara is a saint, but victim blaming is the oldest and useless strategy. Biden is a sexual harasser, so is Trump. Biden is well-liked and Trump well-dislike. This is his advantage.
Not enough people like Biden.
Trump has never been accused of being a sexual pervert while being in office. Biden has been accused of being a sexual pervert while in office. See the difference??
> Prominent lawyer, Trump donor representing Biden accuser
There weren’t any Democrat lawyers available. They were all engaged in defending Harvey Weinstein, James Comey, Peter Strzok, and Robert Mueller.
Y’all are still here. 16 years later. Like hamsters on the wheel. Hauling ass. Going nowhere. No wonder San Jose is in such a tail spin.
> Y’all are still here. 16 years later. Like hamsters on the wheel.
Dennis:
Thanks for checking in with us.
You must be a pretty big wig by now. President of your condo association? Shift supervisor at the car wash?
Dennis if you are still here, then you are the useless observer. Do you know how to change the channel?
It’s called the dump Biden movement or blame someone else for the loss. Even the DNC knows that Biden is a non starter and will lose the election.
In fact, they are counting on it so they can get ready for 2024.
Outside of the fact that Biden is too old, too old to being the training to run the country, he has serious physical and mental health issues as well.
Obamagate being the latest. The media will cover it up for about a month or two. Then all of Obamagate comes out.
At that point, one of two things happen:
1. Biden gets dumped.
2. Biden hangs on with the DNC realizing that nobody can beat Trump. DNC pins the blame on Biden’s loss on Biden along with moving on.
So if you are a Trump supporter then you want Biden to hang in. Biden can’t stay in the basement forever.
> They are Republicans with tons of money to spend on ads.
Advertising is useful in many situations, but it only focuses existing predispositions..
I heard a professor of marketing observe once, “no amount of advertising will make people buy dog shit toothepaste.”
Democrats were NOT predisposed to vote for Mike Bloomberg, and a half billion dollars of advertising couldn’t change that.
I was predisposed to think Biden was a sniffin’ nibbler, only because I saw him do those things on TV. But his answer, “I wouldn’t vote for me if I believed Tara Reade” is pretty much what I’d say if she accused me.
We need to “move on” to what Joe and Jill are getting Hunter Biden’s love child for Christmas. Or how Obama gave Biden the “Medal of Freedom” on the exact date they wiretapped a citizen without a warrant and leaked details.
> Or how Obama gave Biden the “Medal of Freedom” on the exact date they wiretapped a citizen without a warrant and leaked details.
Obama did WHAT?
This is shocking!
It can’t possibly be true. It it were true, I would have seen it on the news.
“Believe women” doesn’t literally mean believe women no matter what under any circumstances – that would be irrational, and no one really advocates for that. “Believe women” means that we should show respect when a woman speaks up, to not take a reflexive position but to slow down and dispassionately consider the credibility of the claim.
It’s with respect for all victims of sexual assault that I confess that I do not believe Tara Reade. If you would like the best summary of reasons that cast doubt of Ms. Reade’s accusation, I would suggest you take a look at Michael J. Stern’s USA Today column titled “Why I’m skeptical about Reade’s sexual assault claim against Biden.”
Consider these facts – not in isolation, but as a whole:
1. Delayed reporting (twice – waited 27 years before accusing Biden of touching her neck inappropriately, then waited another year to accuse him of rape)
2. Implausible reason for changing her story (Reade said she didn’t report the rape during her interview on Biden touching her neck because “I just got really shut down” by the reporter – why would the reporter discourage a big story like that? Why did it take her 12 months to find a reporter willing to listen?)
3. Contradicted by other witnesses (Everyone who worked for Biden at the same time as Reade have very strongly denied that they witnessed any evidence of an assault or harassment, including complaints from Reade about such harassment)
4. Missing formal complaint (The one piece of evidence Reade cited has not been found to exist, and she did not possess a copy of it despite having copies of her Senate employment records)
5. Convenient memory lapses (Reade can’t specify when or where the assault took place, which means it can’t be disproved)
6. Lying about her exit from Biden’s office (She has said she was fired for refusing to serve drinks at an event, she has said she was fired in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint, and prior to both of those claims she said on her blog that she voluntarily left the Senate because of her realization that America was ‘imperialist’)
7. Praised Biden for years after alleged assault (Including praising his legislative work against sexual assault, and as recently as 2017)
8. Support for Bernie lines up with turn against Biden (After praising Biden for years, Reade publicly began supporting Bernie Sanders in his primary campaign, and then she switched from praising Biden to attacking him, eventually making the rape accusation)
9. Crazy Putin essays (If you have not seen them, you have got to read them – they cast SERIOUS doubt on Reade’s mental stability. Excerpt: “President Putin has an alluring combination of strength with gentleness. His sensuous image projects his love for life, the embodiment of grace while facing adversity.”)
10. Larry King call was unsubstantiated (Some have treated it as support for Reade, but beyond the fact that the woman on the phone call can’t be identified, the contents of the call seem to suggest that, if the call WAS from Reade’s mom, the problems Reade faced in Biden’s Senate office were more related to her relationships with other staffers than Biden.)
11. The supposed corroboration is suspect (Reade’s brother, the only person who has on-the-record corroborated Reade’s version of events, actually corroborated a different version of events to the Post originally – somehow he remembered that his sister told him Senator Biden had touched her neck inappropriately, but he said nothing about a sexual assault until several days later)
Now, I get that one or two of these things could be argued against. Women often don’t report their assaults for years. Sometimes we can have a complex relationship with someone who has assaulted us. But the TOTALITY of all of this information! And Politico has just published a new article interviewing a number of people who have known Reade testifying to her being an unscrupulous person.
Frankly, I am extremely disappointed of Alex Lee for ignoring this mountain of public evidence that has already come out. It’s only helping Donald Trump stay in office.
Biden is the best thing for Trump.
I’d add #12 Well—Reade has worked as a sexual assault counselor for many years. One thing she surely told her clients was that delay in reporting an incident makes it less credible. Yet she delayed for 27 years. Her response to Megyn as to why she delayed so long was not credible.
After watching Megyn Kelly’s entire interview, I am convinced that no rational DA would file a criminal complaint against Biden, assuming the statute of limitations could be waived, which it cannot. Further, no rational criminal jury would convict Biden and no rational civil jury would find for Reade as a civil plaintiff, once again assuming that the statutes of limitations could be waived.
Ms. Reade gave it her best shot with Megyn, and came up well short. She should go quietly into the sunset.
> And Politico has just published a new article interviewing a number of people who have known Reade testifying to her being an unscrupulous person.
> Frankly, I am extremely disappointed of Alex Lee for ignoring this mountain of public evidence that has already come out. It’s only helping Donald Trump stay in office.
Let put this on the scale of justice and see how it changes the balance of judgement.
(plit)
Hmmmm. Doesn’t seem make any difference.
You are correct that the impact will be minimal on the election, I suppose it is more frustrating to me because it foreshadows how Alex Lee will probably conduct himself as an elected official.
Well: “’Believe women’ doesn’t literally mean believe women no matter what under any circumstances – that would be irrational, and no one really advocates for that. “Believe women” means that we should show respect when a woman speaks up, to not take a reflexive position but to slow down and dispassionately consider the credibility of the claim.”
That is not the line we were fed during the Kavanaugh hearings. Back then, we were supposed to #BelieveAllWomen without question no matter how outlandish the claim. What changed?
SCHADENFREUDE!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude
“the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another”
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“Joe Biden Created the Culture He Is a Target Of”
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/03/joe-biden-college-campus-sexual-assault-226481
“As vice president, Biden sought to remake the rules of sexual culture on college campuses and beyond. He succeeded—and now is suffering for it.”
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https://jonathanturley.org/2020/05/19/the-new-aclu-the-once-premier-protector-of-due-process-has-filed-a-lawsuit-opposing-due-process-protections/
Jonathan Turley
“The New ACLU: The Once Premier Protector of Due Process Has Filed A Lawsuit Opposing Due Process Protections”
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