Joe Biden sent a letter to the Secretary of the Senate on Friday asking for a search of his records to try to locate a sexual harassment complaint that Tara Reade allegedly made in 1993 about Biden.
Why it matters: In the letter, Biden goes farther than just asking to release a complaint if it exists — he asks to make public "all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation."
- Biden said that he would do this when he addressed Reade's allegations for the first time this morning in a statement and subsequent TV interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
What they're saying: "I request that you take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of this search," Biden wrote in the letter.
- "I would ask that the public release include not only a complaint if one exists, but any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation."
Read the letter below:
Dear Secretary Adams,
I am writing to request your assistance in determining whether 27 years ago a staff member in my United States Senate office filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment. According to public reports, the staff member, Ms. Tara Reade, has stated that in 1993 she filed such a complaint with the office responsible for enforcing Senate employees' rights in the workplace.
We had understood that the Senate stores records from this office, and from this period, in the National Archives. The Archives now states that the records would have remained under the control of the Senate.
Accordingly, I request that you take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of this search. I would ask that the public release include not only a complaint if one exists, but any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation.