Under oath, Biden accuser Tara Reade cited Biden’s work for women; defense attorneys now question her other testimony
Tara Reade has often testified as an expert witness in domestic violence cases.
By
Mike Levine
22 May 2020
At least three times in the past two years, Tara Reade – the woman who now accuses Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden of sexual assault – took the witness stand in a trial centered on domestic violence.
Each time, before a judge would allow her to describe the insidious cycles of domestic violence, she had to show she was qualified to testify in court as a so-called “expert witness.” And each time, she began her answer by citing two things: Biden’s past efforts to protect women from violence, and her time on his Senate staff in the early 1990s, when she now says the sexual assault took place.
“What’s your experience specifically with respect to domestic violence?” Monterey County Deputy District Attorney Robin Duffy asked Reade during a trial in California early last year, according to a transcript of the testimony.
“Well,” Reade responded, “I worked originally for former U.S. senator Joseph Biden as a legislative aide. He worked on the Violence Against Women Act.”
In the January 2019 testimony, Reade seemed to praise what Biden started as a U.S. senator, saying that “going way back to my former boss, Joe Biden,” there has been a “movement” to “take the onus off the victim” by encouraging neighbors or other associates of victims to report domestic violence to authorities.
She also cited Biden and the Violence Against Women Act during testimony in October last year, six months after she first publicly accused Biden of inappropriately touching her nearly two decades ago, limiting her complaints then to allegations he stroked her neck and twirled her curly hair between his fingers.
MORE: Biden: If voters believe Tara Reade ‘they probably shouldn’t vote for me’
According to the transcripts obtained by ABC News, her appearances in court reflect someone who has dedicated much of her life to helping those brutalized by violent and abusive men. But the transcripts also reflect someone who – when under oath – touted Biden’s work for women.
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Before a judge allowed Reade to testify in a December 2018 trial – involving the less common case of two women accused of domestic violence – Duffy, the prosecutor, asked Reade to describe her past education.
“I have a law degree from Seattle University,” Reade noted, testifying under the name Alexandra McCabe, which she assumed after escaping from her allegedly abusive ex-husband in 1997.
“And what about undergraduate?” Duffy inquired.
“A B.A. from Antioch University,” Reade replied, referring to the bachelor of arts degree bestowed on those who graduate from the Seattle school.
After then hearing about Reade’s “20-year career,” including her time in state government as “a victim advocate” and her legal work for local agencies representing battered women, the judge ruled that Reade could testify as an expert witness in the case.
“I do find at this time that this witness does meet the educational background and training requirements to testify as an expert in the dynamics of domestic violence relationships,” the Monterey County judge said of Reade.
A month later, in her January 2019 testimony, Reade similarly testified that she received an undergraduate degree from Antioch University.
But, according to Antioch University officials, some of what Reade told the judges was not true.
"Alexandra McCabe attended but did not graduate from Antioch University,” the school’s spokeswoman, Karen Hamilton, said in a statement to ABC News.
In fact, according to one source familiar with the matter, Reade attended the equivalent of just one year of school at Antioch University in 2000 – a fraction of what’s usually required to earn a degree. ...