‘If Joe Biden has nothing to hide, he should welcome the search and release of the records requested…’
(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) An ethics watchdog has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain records from the University of Delaware that purport to shed light on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s alleged sexual assault of his former staffer Tara Reade.
Biden represented the state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009, and the University of Delaware was given the entirety of his 36-year career Senate records in 2012. But somehow, they’ve been sealed from public view while he runs for president.
“If Joe Biden has nothing to hide, he should welcome the search and release of the records requested,” said Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center.
Flaherty and NLPC attorney Paul Kamenar filed an eight-page FOIA request seeking immediate access to Biden’s senatorial papers, as well as all documents relating to the transfer and curation of the records.
The FOIA further calls on the university’s board of trustees—at least eight of whom are Biden donors—to perform a specific search for documents relating to Tara Reade.
The request also demands the release of all visitor logs to the university’s library, following reports that members of Biden’s campaign team may have secretly scoured the records when Reade’s accusations first resurfaced in the public sphere.
Kamenar appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Monday evening to discuss the issue.
“On what grounds can a public university, handling public documents, possibly turn you down for your FOIA?” asked Carlson.
“Delaware is one of two states in the country that carves out exemptions for public universities, but the board of trustees can override such exemptions,” Kamenar said.
“The university also has the discretion to release them—meaning they don’t have to keep them withheld,” he added.
In 2012, Biden gave the University of Delaware 1,875 boxes of “photographs, documents, videotapes, and files” and 415 gigabytes of electronic records. They were supposed to be disclosed to the public two years after the former vice president’s last day in office, or on Jan. 21, 2019.
But that agreement has been amended to “two years after public life,” which conveniently shields Biden from sexual assault-related evidence while he runs for president.
The National Legal and Policy Center is not alone in its desire to review the records.
Both the left-leaning Atlantic and Washington Post have argued that Biden should instruct the university to turn them over.
The records “could contain confirmation of any complaint Ms. Reade made, either through official congressional channels or to the three other employees she claims she informed not specifically of the alleged assault but more generally of harassment,” said the Post.
Complicating matters for Biden is that his records likely contain troves of speeches and legislative positions that are dramatically out-of-step with the modern progressive Democratic Party.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., for example, attacked Biden during the primary debates for his segregationist past, which included working with white-supremacist Democrats on legislation that opposed busing minorities to white schools. He was also a staunch opponent of gay marriage.
In a Friday MSNBC interview, Biden weakly explained his reluctance to unseal his public records.
“There’s a lot of things—of speeches I’ve made, positions I’ve taken, interviews that I did overseas with people—all of those things related to my job,” he said. “And the idea that they would all be made public … while I was running for public office, they can be really taken out of context … For example, when I go, when I met with Putin or when I met with whomever.”
When pressed about releasing his Senate papers relating to Tara Reade, Biden told Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski: “There is nothing. They wouldn’t—they’re not there. I don’t understand the point that you’re trying to make.”
Kamenar cited Biden’s comments during his Fox interview, and told Tucker Carlson, “Well, how do we know there’s nothing there?”
“We should be able to see them,” Carlson said.