Sexual Assault Advocates Are Grappling With the Allegations Against Joe Biden

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, Vice President Joe Biden holds up a shirt before speaking at an It's On Us event on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio. Biden was speaking about the importance of preventing sexual assault on college campuses. A major new study finds that a quarter of undergraduate women at more than two dozen universities experienced unwanted sexual contact at some point during their college career. The survey by the Association of American Universities comes at a time of heightened public awareness and increased scrutiny of what schools are doing to combat sexual assault on campus. More than 150,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students at the organizationís member schools participated. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

Earlier this week, the New York TimesWashington PostAssociated Press, and NBC News published investigations into claims by Tara Reade that former Vice President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a staff assistant to the then-senator more than 25 years ago. The reports did not determine whether Reade’s allegations were true. Journalists interviewed one unnamed friend who said Reade told them in 1993 about the alleged assault, as well another friend and her brother, who said she told them “over the years about a traumatic sexual incident,” according to the New York TimesOther people Reade said she shared some details with, as well as her former supervisors and other Biden staffers, told reporters they had no memory of Reade’s complaints about him. Biden’s presidential campaign denied her accusation. “This absolutely did not happen,” deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said.

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