Former Vice President Joe Biden struggled to answer questions Friday morning from “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski over his reluctance to release records contained in his Senate papers at the University of Delaware.
Brzezinski asked him why he can’t just search accuser Tara Reade’s name in the files. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said he would approve a search of the National Archives, but did not explain why he wouldn’t do so for his records at the University of Delaware. (RELATED: Joe Biden Has A Long History Of Opposing Due Process In Sexual Assault Cases)
Biden first attempted to defend his position by claiming that he did not want classified material related to his conversations with former President Barack Obama to be made public. (RELATED: Joe Biden Says America Needs More ‘Economic Intercourse’)
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“The material in the University of Delaware has no personnel files, but it does have a lot of confidential conversations that I had with the president about a particular issue, that I had with the heads of state of other places, that that would not be something that would be revealed while I was in public office, or while I was seeking public office,” Biden said. “To the best of my knowledge, no one else has done that either.”
“I’m just talking about her name, not anybody else,” Brzezinski responded. “Nothing classified with the president or anybody else. I’m just asking why not do a search for Tara Reade’s name in the University of Delaware records.”
After a roughly five-second pause, Biden asked Brzezinski who she thought should conduct the search, while Brzezinski continued to press for transparency.
“Look, Mika, she said she filed a report,” Biden said. “She has her employment records still. She said she filed a report with the only office that would have a report in the United States Senate at the time. If a report was ever filed, it was filed there, period.”
Pressure on Biden and the University of Delaware to release the records has mounted in recent days, with Reade telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that she wanted the records released in an attempt to hold Biden accountable.
“Joe Biden, I want you to release all the personnel records from 1973 to 2009 and be transparent about your office practices,” Reade told the DCNF. “I would like to hold you accountable for what happened to me, to how your staff protected you and enabled you, bullied me multiple times into silence.”