No settlement between Tara Reade and Joe Biden has ever been publicly reported or confirmed, and Reade never filed a civil lawsuit against Biden personally. The active litigation connected to her name is a tort claim against the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI, filed in January 2024 and amended in February 2025 to seek $100 million in damages over what Reade alleges was a federal retaliation campaign tied to her 1993 accusation against Biden.
The Pending Claim Against the DOJ and FBI
Reade’s London-based attorney, Jonathan Levy, filed the original tort claim in January 2024, seeking $10 million. It alleged invasion of privacy, emotional distress, Fourth Amendment violations, and violations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.1Detained in Dubai / Prowly. Biden Assault Victim Seeks Millions in Damages Following FBI Operation Against Her Among the evidence cited was a July 9, 2020, federal grand jury subpoena issued to Twitter by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, demanding subscriber information for Reade’s two Twitter accounts going back to April 2019.2Jonathan Levy. Tara Reade Tort Claim (SF-95)
The claim describes a purported FBI effort Reade calls “Operation Cassandra,” a name she selected because the actual codename, if any exists, is unknown to her. She alleges the operation ran from April 2019 to November 2023 and involved unlawful surveillance, hacking of her personal accounts and her daughter’s devices, coordinated press coverage labeling her a “Russian agent,” and prompting the Monterey County perjury investigation into her expert-witness credentials.2Jonathan Levy. Tara Reade Tort Claim (SF-95) No independent reporting has verified the existence of such an operation.
On February 24, 2025, Levy filed an amended tort complaint that raised the damages figure to $100 million and named the FBI, the DOJ, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, and former FBI Director Christopher Wray. It alleges “weaponization” of the federal government and violations of Reade’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. Reade and Levy have publicly called on current FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi to address the claims. As of the amended filing, the Biden administration had provided no formal response to the original tort complaint, and the case remains pending.3Newsweek. Tara Reade Seeks $100 Million From DOJ
Why There Is No Biden Settlement
Three facts explain the absence. First, Reade never sued Biden. She filed a criminal complaint with Washington, D.C., police on April 9, 2020, acknowledging at the time that the statute of limitations on the alleged 1993 conduct had expired and stating she filed for “safety reasons.”4Axios. Timeline: Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden No civil action followed.
Second, Biden publicly denied any settlement mechanism existed. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe on May 1, 2020, he said, “No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened.”5The New York Times. Biden Denies Sexual Assault Allegation From Former Senate Aide He also stated: “There is no NDA signed. I’ve never asked anyone to sign an NDA. There are no NDAs, period, in my case.”6The Atlantic. Biden’s Tara Reade Answer
Third, the one document Reade has said might exist, a written complaint she says she filed with the Senate personnel office in 1993, has never been located. Reade later told the Associated Press the report was “limited” and did not specifically describe sexual assault or harassment.4Axios. Timeline: Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden Biden requested that the Secretary of the Senate search for the document; the office declined, citing confidentiality rules under the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991. The National Archives told ABC News it does not control Senate personnel complaints from 1993, which remain under Senate jurisdiction.7ABC News. Senate Secretary: Records Requested by Biden Cannot Be Released
The Underlying 1993 Allegation
Reade worked as a staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993.8WSLS. Biden Accuser’s Credentials, Expert Testimony Under Scrutiny She alleges that during that period, Biden pinned her against a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing, and penetrated her with his fingers. According to Reade, Biden told her afterward, “You’re nothing to me.”4Axios. Timeline: Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden
Reade first spoke publicly in April 2019, describing inappropriate touching but not an assault. She was one of eight women who came forward that year to accuse Biden of unwanted physical contact.9The New York Times. Examining Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden On March 25, 2020, during the Democratic presidential primary, she publicly described the alleged assault for the first time in a podcast interview with journalist Katie Halper.4Axios. Timeline: Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden
Reade has said she reported feeling harassed to Biden’s executive assistant, Marianne Baker, and to other aides, though she has said she did not disclose the assault itself at the time.10Forbes. A Timeline of Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegations Against Joe Biden Baker denied receiving any such report.11The Intercept. New Evidence Supporting Credibility of Tara Reade’s Allegation Against Joe Biden Reade’s former neighbor Lynda LaCasse told NPR that Reade described the assault to her in 1995 or 1996.12NPR. Former Neighbor Corroborates Tara Reade’s Account of Sexual Assault by Joe Biden Reade’s brother, Collin Moulton, and an unnamed friend told The Intercept she had disclosed the allegations to them at the time.
The Perjury Investigation
Reade’s account drew scrutiny partly because of discrepancies in her professional history. Under the name Alexandra McCabe, she served as a paid expert witness on domestic violence in Monterey County, California, criminal cases. She testified under oath to holding a bachelor’s degree from Antioch University, but the school said she never graduated and was never on the faculty, having attended for only three academic quarters in 2000–2001.13Politico. Biden Accuser’s Expert Testimony Under Scrutiny She also described her role in Biden’s office as “legislative assistant” in testimony, though records showed she held the more junior staff assistant position.8WSLS. Biden Accuser’s Credentials, Expert Testimony Under Scrutiny
The Monterey County District Attorney’s office opened a perjury investigation covering as many as 20 criminal trials.8WSLS. Biden Accuser’s Credentials, Expert Testimony Under Scrutiny Prosecutors declined to file charges, citing the “difficulty of proving the materiality of her false testimony,” and provided their findings to defense counsel in all ten domestic violence cases where she had testified.14KSBW. Woman Who Accused Biden of Sexual Assault Won’t Face Perjury Charges in Monterey County Attorney Douglas Wigdor dropped Reade as a client in May 2020, about two weeks after agreeing to represent her, saying the decision was “by no means a reflection on whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted Ms. Reade.”15The New York Times. Tara Reade’s Credentials Under Scrutiny
Reade’s Move to Russia
On May 30, 2023, Reade announced she had moved to Moscow. Appearing on the Kremlin-owned outlet Sputnik with Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, a former convicted unregistered foreign agent who served 18 months in a U.S. prison, Reade said she felt “safe” and “respected” for the first time in years.16CNN. Tara Reade Defects to Russia She said her choices in the United States had been to “walk into a cage or be killed,” citing death threats she said followed her allegations against Biden.17The Guardian. Tara Reade Defects to Russia Butina pledged to ask President Vladimir Putin to fast-track her citizenship.18The Sydney Morning Herald. Biden’s Accuser in Moscow, Seeking Russian Refuge With Help of Ex-Spy
Since relocating, Reade has worked with the Russian state-controlled outlet RT and made appearances on Kremlin-affiliated programming, in one instance apologizing for what she called America’s “aggressive stance” toward Russia and for U.S. support of Ukraine under Biden.19Kyiv Independent. Putin Grants Citizenship to Ex-Biden Aide Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault On September 22, 2025, Putin signed a decree granting Reade Russian citizenship. The Kremlin document identified her by her legal name, “Alexandra Tara McCabe, born February 26, 1964.”20Meduza. Putin Grants Russian Citizenship to Tara Reade Her tort claim against the U.S. government remains pending from abroad.