California prosecutors are looking into possible criminal charges against the woman who accuses Joseph R. Biden of sexually assaulting her.
According to ABC News and other outlets, Monterey County officials are investigating Tara Reade to determine whether she gave false testimony under oath when working as an expert witness on domestic violence.
The specific issue is whether she misrepresented her academic credentials when establishing her bona fides as an expert witness.
“We are investigating whether [she] gave false testimony under oath,” Monterey County chief assistant district attorney Berkley Brannon said in a statement.
Ms. Reade, then using the name Alexandra McCabe, would describe in testimony her 20-year career as “a victim advocate” but at least twice in the past two years, according to ABC News, she said she had earned a degree from Antioch University.
“[She] attended but did not graduate from Antioch University,” spokeswoman Karen Hamilton, told ABC.
Other details of Ms. Reade’s academic career, which news outlets have begun investigating since she accused the presumed Democratic presidential nominee of forcible digital penetration some decades ago, seem somewhat murky.
Mr. Brannon, the Monterey County prosecutor, told Politico that he wasn’t sure how many cases Ms. Reade might have testified in as an expert.
“We have no database or search engine to use to determine in how many cases she testified,” he told Politico. “However, that effort is ongoing.”
According to Politico, the Monterey County district attorney is being pushed by defense lawyers in cases in which Ms. Reade testified to subpoena her academic records to determine whether she had engaged in academic fraud that might invalidate her testimony and/or lied under the oath.
“It’s my opinion that the district attorney has an obligation to find out that information and turn it over to us,” Roland Soltesz, a defense lawyer who questioned her in the attempted murder trial, told Politico.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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