Joe Biden sexual assault accuser asks Putin for citizenship

The woman who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault during the 2020 presidential race has appeared in Moscow and asked Vladimir Putin for Russian citizenship.

Speaking from Moscow, Tara Reade claimed that her life was in danger and that she was facing imprisonment after she was called a Russian agent following her accusations against the US president.

Sitting alongside Maria Butina, a Russian politician and former spy who was arrested and imprisoned in Washington in 2018, Ms Reade said: “I just really so appreciate Maria and everyone who’s been giving me [protection] at a time when it’s been very difficult to know if I’m safe or not.

“I just didn’t want to walk home and walk into a cage or be killed, which is basically my two choices.”

The 59-year-old said that she has “always loved Russia” and does not see “Russia as an enemy”.

She said she had one “large” request and added: “I’d like to apply for citizenship in Russia, from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.”

Ms Butina, who tried to infiltrate US conservative groups to promote the Kremlin’s agenda, promised to ask Putin to “fast track” her citizenship, local media reported.

Ms Reade hit the headlines in early 2020 after claiming that Mr Biden sexually assaulted her in a Capitol Hill corridor in August 1993, when she was 29.

At the time of her allegation, Mr Biden was building up his presidential campaign against Donald Trump, who has also faced accusations of sexual abuse and rape.

Mr Biden denied her accusation. “It is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened,” he said.

She told Sputnik media group that she had arrived in Russia on a holiday and had decided to stay after an unnamed Republican politician told her she was in physical danger.

However, she said: “When I got off the plane in Moscow, for the first time in a very long time I felt safe, and I felt heard and felt respected.”

“I do promise to be a good citizen,” she said, adding that she wanted to keep her US citizenship as well.

“I felt that while [the 2024] election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off here and just being safe. My dream is to live in both places, but it may be that I only live in this place and that’s OK.”

Ms Reade claimed that she filed a complaint after the alleged incident involving Mr Biden. No record of it has been found.

However, her ex-husband mentioned that she had complained of sexual harassment while working in Mr Biden’s office in a 1996 court document record.

It is not clear if her allegations have ever been formally investigated.