The White House on Wednesday was "loath to comment" on Biden sexual assault accuser Tara Reade's defection to Russia, other than to say her claims were "absolutely false."
Reade, a former Senate staffer who has accused President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, appeared at a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday and declared she was asking President Vladimir Putin for Russian citizenship. She claimed her decision to defect came after she received threats of imprisonment or harm in the United States.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked about Reade's announcement on Wednesday but wouldn't guess why she ran to Russia.
"I think we'd be loath to comment on the musings of a potential Russian citizen," Kirby told reporters. "That's really up for her to speak to."
BIDEN ACCUSER READE DEFECTS TO RUSSIA OUT OF ‘SAFETY,' EXPERT WARNS IT'S NOT WHOLE STORY
Reade spoke at a news conference with Sputnik International, a Russian state-owned news agency, and recounted what she said were her fears of reprisal while living in the U.S. after her claims during the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign that Biden had assaulted her while she worked as a congressional staffer in 1993.
She had initially leveled allegations, along with several other women, against Biden for inappropriate touching, but she elevated those claims to sexual assault as Biden progressed through the Democratic Party primaries.
SOUTH AFRICA LOOKS TO GRANT PUTIN DIPLOMATIC...
Police have launched an investigation into alleged false accusation by Park Cheol-min, a former member of the Seongnam International Mafia. Park, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, raised al...