Tara Reade, one of several women who accused US President Joe Biden of sexual assault during his 2020 presidential election campaign, has now applied for Russian citizenship, according to American reports on Thursday.
Reade reportedly decided that she wanted to live in Russia after vacationing there.
She made the decision to stay in Russia after a Republican lawmaker allegedly warned her that she was in physical danger in the United States. Reade also claims that she was threatened with prison and accused of being a Russian agent.
"When I got off the plane in Moscow, for the first time in a very long time, I felt safe. And I felt heard and felt respected," she said in an interview with Russia's Sputnik media group.
"I'm still kind of in a daze a bit, but I feel very good," The Guardian quotes her as saying. "I feel very surrounded by protection and safety."
"From what I could see based on the cases and based on what was happening and sort of the push for them to not want me to testify, I felt that while [the 2024] election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off here and just being safe. My dream is to live in both places, but it may be that I only live in this place and that’s OK,” she said.
"I do not see Russia as an enemy nor do many of my fellow American citizens," she said in her interview with Sputnik. “To my Russian brothers and sisters, I’m sorry right now that American elites are choosing to have such an aggressive stance. Just know that most American citizens do want to be friends and hope that we can have unity again."
Reade issued a request for citizenship in the interview, stating that she would "like to apply for citizenship in Russia, from the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin... I do promise to be a good citizen."
Reade's accusations against US President Joe Biden
Reade worked for Biden's congressional office in 1993 when she was 29 years old. She alleged that Biden assaulted her in a corridor on Capitol Hill.
Reade's accusation, which was denied by Biden, came during the same period of time that former US President Donald Trump had been accused of rape.
Reade alleges that she reported the incident at the time, filing a complaint, but no record of a complaint or investigation was found. Reade's ex-husband has stated that Reade complained of sexual harassment during her period of employment.
US response to the move
The Biden administration has "no evidence" that Tara Reade, a former aide who accused President Joe Biden of sexual assault, is part of a Russian influence operation, national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Responding to a reporters' question about Reade, whose accusations were denied by Biden, Kirby said. "I've seen no evidence or proof of that."
"I would let this prospective Russian citizen speak to her intentions and motivations," he said.
Americans claiming Russian citizenship
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, nine years after he exposed the scale of secret surveillance operations by the National Security Agency (NSA).
Russia also announced plans to build a village in Moscow for conservative Americans and Canadians who wish to avoid liberal discourse, according to a report last week by Russian-state media RIA Novosti.
The plans were announced by Timur Beslangurov, a partner in the VISTA immigration law firm, who Russian media said was involved in the development of the project.
"In the Moscow region, in 2024, they will start building a village for Americans and Canadians who want to move. About 200 families want to emigrate for ideological reasons," Beslangurov said in a speech at a forum reported on by RIA.