Former Obama Strategist Says No Misconduct Allegations Against Biden Were Found During ’08 VP Vetting Process

The chief strategist for Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns wrote in a CNN op-ed Friday night that the team vetting Biden found no sexual misconduct allegations.

“Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up,” David Axelrod wrote. “No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, experts in their work, would not have missed it.”

Axelrod acknowledged that while he was not a part of the vetting team, he was briefed on their work.

Biden on Friday denied the allegations.

“Reade did not surface her allegations of a criminal sexual assault when Biden was a candidate for president in 2008, nor did she offer them confidentially to the Obama vetting team when Biden emerged as a principal contender for vice president later that year,” Axelrod continued.

“Had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure Biden would not have been the nominee. Obama would not have tolerated it, even if he and Biden were close then, which they were not. Their friendship grew only after Biden joined the ticket and through their eight-year partnership in the White House. At that time, they were distant Senate colleagues and most recently rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.”