Tara Reade, the woman who has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual assault, is being represented by an attorney who is a Trump supporter and donor to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
My source for this is the Associated Press, which is a reputable press outlet that adheres to journalistic standards. I emphasize that because there are so many stories being circulated by and for the consumption of the not-too-swift crowd that are total fiction.
According to the AP news article, Ms Reade’s attorney is Douglas Wigdor. Wigdor says that he is representing her on a pro bono basis because he feels that victims of sexual assault have “a right to competent counsel.”
Wigdor has a strong background of advocating for victims of sexual assault. He represented six of the women who accused Harvey Weinstein of assault. He also represented Juliette Huddy, one of the women who accused Bill O’Reilly of sexual misconduct. He spoke out in the media in defense of Christine Blasey Ford when she was being pilloried for coming forward about the attempted rape which Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh committed against her.
Wigdor has a compelling record of standing against the rape culture, which is an endemic and clear-cut violation of the human and civil rights of half the people. However, Wigdor also made a $55,000 donation to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.
I don’t have those sorts of conflicts about Tara Reade’s attorney. The only thing I can say is that I am grateful for the good things Mr Wigdor has done for victims of sexual assault. I agree that women who have been assaulted by powerful men, or indeed, by any man, have a very difficult time getting good legal representation and are subjected to every kind of merciless slander and attack, including attacks from their own faith communities.
Joe Biden is the person who is assumed to be Trump’s opponent in the upcoming election. That makes Ms Reade’s accusation, coming as it does after Mr Biden’s nomination seems inevitable, a fraught event. If she had just come forward last fall, the whole situation would have been very different.
As for Ms Reade’s attorney, he is a conundrum.
From the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who alleged Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, is being represented by a prominent lawyer and political donor to President Donald Trump’s 2016 Republican campaign.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor told The Associated Press he was not currently being paid for his work with Reade. His firm also denied there was a political motivation for his decision to represent Reade in her accusations against Trump’s presumptive Democratic opponent in the November election.
“We have decided to take this matter on because every survivor has the right to competent counsel,” the firm said in a statement.
Reade has said for weeks that she was struggling to find a lawyer willing to represent her. She’s accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, when she worked on his Senate staff. He has denied her allegation.
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