Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, offered to testify under oath and take a polygraph test so long as the former vice president does so as well.
In an interview with journalist Megyn Kelly, Reade said she was “absolutely” willing to subject herself to the same cross examination as Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Some Democratic lawmakers who supported Blasey Ford but have cast doubt on Reade’s allegations have been accused of posing a double standard. Kelly noted that they mention Blasey Ford underwent a polygraph exam in addition to her Senate testimony.
“I’m not a criminal; Joe Biden should take the polygraph,” Reade said In her first televised interview since the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee publicly denied the allegations.
“What kind of precedent does that set for survivors of violence? Does that mean we’re presumed guilty and have to take a polygraph test?” Reade added.
Reade, who managed the intern program for Biden’s Senate office, alleged publicly in March that Biden had sexually assaulted her in an empty corridor on Capitol Hill in 1993.
Reade says she filed a complaint detailing allegations of harassment against Biden with the Senate at the time. Biden has called on the National Archives and the secretary of the Senate to search and release any records they might have, but both have said they are not authorized to do so.
However, she did not formally report the alleged sexual assault until April of this year, when she filed a police report in Washington, D.C.