Tara Reade is a former staffer to Joe Biden during his term as a Senator from Delaware. In 2019, she made headlines when she accused Biden of sexually assaulting her in a corridor in a Senate office building in 1993.
Wiki/Biography
Tara Reade Moulton was born on Wednesday, February 26, 1964 (age 56 years; as of 2020) in Monterey County, California, United States. When Tara was just three months old, she moved out of California along with her family. She was raised in Wisconsin and Georgia and most of her childhood was spent in Wisconsin where she attended school and enjoyed sports like skiing. [1]Monterey County Weekly
Tara Reade (left as a child) With Her Mother Jeanette Altimus in 1966
When Reade was still a teen, her parents divorced, and she shifted to Athens in Georgia along with her mother and brother, Collin. [2]Twin Cities When Reade turned seventeen, she moved to California to pursue a career in acting and modeling. [3]CNN
Tara Reade in 1971
In 1992, Tara Reade was hired as a staffer to the then-Senator from Delaware, Joe Biden. [4]Twin Cities Earlier, she studied political science at Pasadena City College and also worked as a congressional intern in the office of U.S. Representative Leon Panetta. [5]Monterey County Weekly
Tara Reade in her youth
Reade also worked as a field manager in Santa Barbara County Supervisor Gloria Ochoa’s campaign against Representative Michael Huffington. She remained a staffer to Joe Biden from December 1992 to August 1993. Later, she worked for California State Senator Jack O’Connell as a staff assistant.
Tara Reade, pictured in the 1990s
She graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 2004, but later it was found that she never had an undergraduate degree to get admission in a law school. [6]The New York Times
Tara Reade as a Law Graduate in 2004
Reade shifted to the Monterey Bay area in the mid-2000s. In 2007, Reade filed a lawsuit against her employer, YWCA Monterey County; claiming workplace harassment and discrimination. [7]Monterey County Weekly Later, Reade joined the nonprofit Animal Friends Rescue Project in Pacific Grove as executive director in 2007; however, she was terminated in 2009. [8]Monterey County Weekly In the same year, she finished the 10-month training program Leadership Monterey Peninsula. Later, she co-hosted a weekly radio show, Soul Vibes, in the early 2010s; the show was aired on the now-defunct local station KNRY. From 2010 to 2011, Tara Reade worked at Hartnell College as an education instructor. Tara Reade filed for bankruptcy in 2012; she owed money to many firms, including Aladdin Bail Bonds in Salinas; Animal Hospital at the Crossroads, Central Coast Cardiology, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Cottage Vet Care, Credit Bureau of Monterey, Credit Consulting Services in Salinas, Grove Market, Hartnell College Parking Enforcement, Monterey Bay Urgent Care, Monterey County Revenue Division, and Oceanview Vet Hospital. [9]Monterey County Weekly
Family & Ethnicity
Tara Reade comes from a white American family.
Parents & Siblings
Tara Raede’s mother’s name is Jeanette Altimus who was an artist on Cannery Row. [10]Monterey County Weekly Her mother died in 2016.
Tara Reade With Her Mother Jeanette Altimus, in 1994
Reade’s father, Robert Reade Moulton, was a sportswriter at the Wausau Daily Herald in the 1960s, and he later took a public relations job with a defense contractor in Minnesota. [11]Twin Cities Her father also died in 2016.
Tara Reade’s Father Robert Reade Moulton
Reade has a brother, Collin Moulton, who is a stand-up comedian.
Tara Reade’s Brother Collin Moulton
Michael Enterline is her half-brother. [12]The New York Times
Tara Reade With Her Half Brother Michael Enterline, in 1989
Relationship, Husband & Children
When Reade was working as a staffer to Joe Biden in Washington, she met Ted Dronen in 1993. While describing Dronen in an essay, she wrote –
a smiling 6’4” blonde Nordic-looking man” Tara Reade got married to Ted Dronen in July and together they had a daughter that November. [13]Twin Cities
Tara Reade at her daughter’s school in Seattle, in 2001
Reade also dated Cal Clements who worked in the Cedar Shoals High School’s production of “Grease” alongside Tara Reade in which he played the role of Rizzo, while Reade played the role of Kenickie. [14]CNN
Abusive Childhood & Marriage
According to Tara Reade, when she revealed the abusive behavior of her father to her husband, she didn’t know that he would also turn abusive to her one day. While describing her father who abused her physically and emotionally in her childhood, she said,
Thwarting my college dreams was the mild bit, the rejection and the physical assaults set the stage for how I would walk into the world.”
According to court records from 1996, Tara Reade and her then-15-month-old daughter, both were abused by her husband, Ted Dronen. According to Reade, she had many violent episodes with her husband, including one in which she got seriously injured. Reade was granted a temporary restraining order against her husband in 1996. [15]CNN Later, her husband Ted Dronen acknowledged that he was violent with Reade in February 1996, but he denied Read’s allegations that he was not caring for their daughter. Dronen also denied other violent instances that Reade had mentioned in her own testimony. Later, Reade changed her name to Alexandra McCabe to fled from her ex-husband. [16]CNN On February 13, 2009, she published an essay in a local web-based publication, The Women’s International Perspective; in the essay, she described her experience with domestic violence. [17]Monterey County Weekly
Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden
When Tara Reade received a call to interview for a job with Joe Biden, it was a dream come true for her. While talking about this with the Associated Press (AP) in 2019, Reade said,
I just always wanted to work for Biden. Because at the time, he was the champion of women’s legislation, women’s rights legislation.”
Joe Biden, pictured in 1992
While recalling the day when she was interviewed by the executive assistant of Biden, Marianne Baker, Reade said that Joe Biden entered the room and with a smile, he said, “hire her.” In 2019, Joe Biden was accused by several women including Tara Reade of inappropriately touching, like kisses on the head, unwanted hugs, and standing uncomfortably close. [18]The Guardian On April 4, 2019, Tara Reade made serious allegations against Joe Biden through a local newspaper in Grass Valley, California, The Union. According to the description given by Reade in the paper, when she worked in Biden’s office as a staffer, he had publicly wrapped his fingers in her hair, stroked her neck, and touched her in ways that made her uncomfortable. [19]The New York Times While talking about it, she said,
He used to put his hand on my shoulder and run his finger up my neck,” Reade said. “I would just kind of freeze and wait for him to stop doing that.”
According to Reade, Biden liked her leg and wanted her to serve drinks at an event and when she refused to serve drinks, her responsibilities were cut off by the senator’s office; leading to her resignation in August 1993. On March 25, 2020, Reade came out with more details about being sexually exploited by Joe Biden. According to Reade, when she went to deliver an athletic bag to Biden in the spring of 1993, Biden pushed her against a wall, and while kissing her incessantly, he penetrated her digitally. While describing the incident, Reade said,
It happened at once. He’s talking to me and his hands are everywhere and everything is happening very quickly. He was kissing me and he said, very low, ‘Do you want to go somewhere else?’” [20]The New York Times
She further added that when she pulled away, Biden stopped. She said,
He looked at me kind of almost puzzled or shocked. He said, ‘Come on, man, I heard you liked me.’ He pointed his finger at me and he just goes: ‘You’re nothing to me. Nothing.’ Then, he took my shoulders and said, ‘You’re OK, you’re fine.’” [21]The New York Times
Later, Joe Biden denied Tara Reade’s accusations of sexually assaulting her, he said,
This never happened. While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.”
In an interview with Megyn Kelly on May 7, 2020, Reade talked about her sexual assault by Biden.
Controversies
- She was heavily criticized and received death threats after her story of sexual assault by Biden was reported in The Union, a local California newspaper. Some even called her a Russian agent. [22]The New York Times
- The U.S. Internal Revenue Service revoked the status of her nonprofit Gracie’s Pet Food Pantry for not filing Form 990s (filed by nonprofits) for three consecutive years. [23]Monterey County Weekly
- After volunteering for Pregnant Mare Rescue in Watsonville for two years (2014-2016), Reade had to leave amid accusations of wrongdoing. [24]Monterey County Weekly
Facts/Trivia
- According to an ex-colleague of Reade named Savage, when Reade left Biden’s office in August 1993, she had cited health issues as the reason to leave the job. Savage said,
Reade blamed her termination on her health issue — that she thought she was being discriminated against for her health issue.”
- During the trial of a man convicted of assaulting his wife, Reade testified in Monterey County Superior Court as an expert witness in October 2019.
Tara Reade Testifying for the prosecution in a domestic violence case
- According to Reade’s ex-husband, Dronen, her mother kicked her out of her house during a fall 1994 argument; Tara Reade was in the late stages of pregnancy at the time.
- Tara Reade’s mother was among the few to whom she had confided in about Biden’s alleged sexual assault.
- When Tara Reade was employed at the senator’s office at Capitol Hill, she would often go for antique shopping and enjoy a ballgame with her friend Stacey Lentz.
- In 2013, she started a campaign, GoFundMe, for her local nonprofit, Gracie’s Pet Food Pantry.
- In childhood, Reade dreamt of being an Olympic skier and studying acting at Juilliard. [25]Twin Cities
- According to Reade’s friends, in her childhood, Reade was a kind, lively, and cheerful person who loved animals and acting. [26]CNN
- According to Reade, she scored an audition in New York for The Juilliard School’s exclusive acting program, but the school never confirmed her selection for an audition.
- Tara Reade always loved dancing, and she performed in the school theatre, community, and regional theatre. She also appeared in the American biographical film, La Bamba (1987) as a dancer. [27]CNN
Tara Reade’s Dancing Footage
- While describing her childhood in an interview, Reade said that she was a nature lover and loved horseback riding. [28]CNN
Tara Reade Playing With a Horse
- In an interview, Reade revealed that she was an accomplished skier and had even qualified for the Junior Olympics team in downhill skiing in Wisconsin when she was twelve years old. [29]Twin Cities