Several Senate Democrats have expressed Biden's sexual assault accusation from former aide Tara Reade needs to be independently investigated.
The accusation was from 27 years ago in mid-March when Biden pushed her against a wall and assaulted her in 1993.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) stated “We need an investigation that has independence that will then ensure that the facts are established. It should be independent,”
“I think it’s important to have appropriate independent scrutiny brought to bear to help inform all of us about the situation. It’s a good question ... because we’re not in a situation where there’s a member of the Senate or a member of the administration” Markley added.
According to The Hill:
The former vice president, who served in the Senate from 1973 to 2009, last week asked Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams to make public any record that might exist of a complaint Reade said she filed. Adams replied on Monday that Senate rules and current law prohibit her from making public any information related to a workplace complaint or harassment claim.
In a statement released Monday morning, the secretary of the Senate said that “strict confidentiality requirements” in the law allow for “no discretion to disclose any such information” requested by Biden related to Reade’s accusations.
The statement cited a review by the Senate legal counsel of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, two laws that govern the records of the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices.
Another Democrat, Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), on Monday said the rules must be changed to allow the complaint, if it exists, to be reviewed.
“I want to get all the Senate records and see if there was ever a complaint filed,” Kaine said. “I think that’s the first question: Was there ever a complaint filed?”
“If there was, who would have it? We’ve got to get it at some point,” he added.
Kaine said if the law bars the disclosure of Reade’s complaint, “it should be changed.”
“I think the American public needs to know was a complaint ever filed,” he said. “I’m certainly going to figure out a way, talking to colleagues, to try to make that happen.
“The vice president wants it out there,” he noted.
As we know several Democrats offered support to Biden, one being Elizabeth Warren. She has said, "I think what the vice president has said is convincing, and I support him" when asked about an independent investigation.
Biden has vehemently denied the claim.