Secretary of the Senate says she cannot comply with Biden request to locate assault allegation

Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams said Monday that her office will not be able to fulfill a request made by Joe Biden to locate a complaint purportedly filed by former Senate staffer Tara Reade alleging her sexual assaulted her.

Adams said that the Senate’s legal counsel has reviewed the relevant statue pertaining to Biden’s request and determined that “the Secretary has no discretion to disclose any such information as requested in Vice President Biden’s letter of May 1.”

Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, has denied the allegations against him made by Reade, who alleges Biden in 1993 sexually assaulted her in the Senate complex on Capitol Hill.

On Friday, Biden called upon the secretary of the Senate to look for the complaint filed by Reade.

Adams cited past Senate guidance on unsealing private records and the law’s confidentiality requirements. In the past, the disclosure of private Senate records has been prohibited.

The Senate’s inability to unseal the pertinent documents is not good news for Reade, who has been pushing Biden to unseal the Senate materials that he donated to the University of Delaware that could corroborate her claim.