Tara Reade, the woman who accused President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her when he was a senator in the United States, has defected to Russia and is now attempting to become a citizen of that country.
Reade, on the other hand, is “being played” by Russia, according to a former analyst who worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency and focused exclusively on Russian studies.
On Tuesday, Reade made an appearance in a video for the Russian state propaganda channel headlined “A Statement and Press Conference from Tara Reade” and tweeted a video of the event.
Sputnik International, a news organization that is completely owned and operated by the Russian government, is responsible for producing the video.
BREAKING: A Statement and Press Conference from Tara Reade @ReadeAlexandra https://t.co/BixNvE1TGs
— Tara Reade 🐎 (@ReadeAlexandra) May 30, 2023
After agreeing to appear before Congress regarding her claims, Reade stated that she feared for her life. She will presumably no longer be giving testimony, at least not in person.
“I’m still kind of in a daze a bit but I feel very good,” Reade told Sputnik. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety.”
Reade commended Maria Butina, a lawmaker in Russia, for encouraging her to defect. Butina, a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, admitted in 2018 to planning to work as an unregistered foreign agent for her country.
Before being deported back to Russia, where she was born, Butina reportedly served an 18-month prison sentence.
“And I just really so appreciate Maria [Butina] and everyone who’s been giving me that at a time when it’s been very difficult to know if I’m safe or not,” Reade said. “I just didn’t want to walk home and walk into a cage or be killed, which is basically my two choices.”
Reade added that she had given her decision to defect significant deliberation over time and that it had been “very difficult” for her.
She had claimed in a tweet earlier in the month that she had endured “Joe Biden and DNC political machine threats, bullying and intimidation over the last three years.”
In the same tweet, she implied that she “should not be under investigation nor am I a foreign agent,” implying that she was being looked into for operating as an unregistered foreign agent, the same offense that Butina had been accused of.
I want to make something clear. If something happens to me, all roads lead to Joe Biden.
Joe Biden and DNC political machine threats, bullying and intimidation over the last three years will not work.
I am not suicidal. I should not be under investigation nor am I a foreign…— Tara Reade 🐎 (@ReadeAlexandra) May 7, 2023
“And from what I could see based on the cases and based on what was happening and sort of the push for them to not want me to testify, I felt that while this election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off here and just being safe,” she said.
“My dream is to live in both places,” she claimed, “but it may be that I only live in this place and that’s OK.”
According to Fox, Butina effectively supported Reade’s application for Russian citizenship, and Putin was reportedly “potentially looking to fast-track the request.”
The outlet also noted that the White House didn’t have anything to say about Reade’s story.
“I won’t attempt to speak for an aspiring Russian citizen, the convicted Russian spy who’s sponsoring her, or the foreign government with which she has chosen to align,” said White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates when Fox reached out for comment.
“Tara Reade is being played by Putin’s regime to stick it to Biden and give the story about the sexual assault allegation another run, in the aftermath of his announcing his run for re-election in 2024,” said Rebekah Koffler, president of Doctrine & Strategy Consulting and a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer.
From 2008 to 2016, Koffler worked for the DIA as a senior intelligence analyst covering Russian doctrine and strategy. After that, she moved on to become a freelance intelligence analyst and the author of “Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,” according to her LinkedIn page.
“Nothing is ‘kosher’ when it comes to any Russian media, but it doesn’t mean that the whole thing is a lie,” Koffler told Fox. “Russian propaganda is very sophisticated: they take something that did happen, such as Tara Reade giving an interview, but then they amplify and twist it.”
