Arguably the most significant break in the Tara Reade story has been the one published by Business Insider earlier this week. That’s when Reade’s former neighbor, Lynda LaCasse, came forward on the record and said she recalled Reade telling her about the Biden harassment story in 1995 or 96.
“This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it,” Lynda LaCasse, who lived next door to Reade in the mid-1990s, told Insider…
“I don’t remember all the details,” LaCasse said. “I remember the skirt. I remember the fingers. I remember she was devastated.”
Today, LaCasse and the reporter who wrote the story appeared on the left wing news show Democracy Now! Host Amy Goodman set up the story of Reade’s allegations and Biden’s denial and then introduced reporter Rich McHugh from Business Insider. McHugh explained that he was asked to look into Reade’s allegations by one of the Harvey Weinstein accusers who McHugh had previously spoken with. He said he warned her there was no guarantee he would find anything to corroborate Reade’s story but with that caveat he began to look into it.
“The more that I’ve gone down the road reporting it the more corroborating voices I’ve found,” McHugh said. Speaking of Lynda LaCasse, he added, “Lynda is someone that struck me as entirely credible. She’s like ‘Look, I am a lifelong Democrat. I’m voting for Biden regardless and this happened so I need to, in good faith, come forward and say that.'”
Toward the latter half of the clip Goodman turns to LaCasse. She repeated the story of what Reade told her, including the details of the assault and said of Reade’s demeanor, “She was very distraught and she was very upset and she was crying.” Reade did name Joe Biden but LaCasse says that at the time she didn’t really know much about him because she wasn’t very political.
LaCasse said Reade called her a few weeks ago and said she planned to come forward with the allegations against Biden. LaCasse immediately indicated that she remembered what Reade had told her years earlier. LaCasse later suggested she would be willing to come forward to tell that story on the record.
LaCasse is committed to voting for Biden though she admits, “It’s a little bit harder now after this allegation.” She explains it by saying it’s an anti-Trump thing. As for Biden’s denials today, LaCasse said, “he looks very believable too.” But she added, “I’m hearing this [denial from Biden] today but I heard Tara a long time ago telling me that. So I’m struggling with it, with the election now.”
At the very end of the interview Goodman asked, “Do you feel strongly that Tara Reade should be believed?”
“Absolutely. Absolutely. I believe her 100 percent,” LaCasse replied.
My take is that Lynda LaCasse isn’t a terribly politically sophisticated person which I think helps explain the vagueness of some of her comments about Biden. But her memory of what Reade told her 25 years ago seems clear and full of detail.
We’ve seen what happens to witnesses that disappoint the left. I wonder if there will be a campaign to harass Lynda LaCasse.
