U. Delaware sued for hoarding Biden senate records that could corroborate Tara Reade's allegations

After refusing to release presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden’s senatorial records, the University of Delaware is being sued by two conservative groups. The Daily Caller News Foundation and Judicial Watch announced the lawsuit Wednesday, claiming that the records should be available under the Freedom of Information Act. 

“The University of Delaware should do the right thing and turn over Joe Biden’s public records as required by law,” DCNF President Neil Patel said.“Partisan gamesmanship by a public university is unseemly and unlawful. If they don’t want to do the right thing, we will force them in court.”

[RELATED: U. Delaware is hoarding records that could corroborate Tara Reade’s allegations against Biden]

The university holds more than 1,850 boxes and 415 gigabytes of information, chronicling his nearly 40 years as a United States senator, during which time former Biden senate staffer Tara Reade alleges Biden sexually assaulted her. However, the school says that since Biden is running for president, the records will not be public information until two years after Biden exits “public life.”

The school originally said that the records would be available after Biden left office as vice president, but changed the wording of the policy to “public life” rather than “public office.” This wording change occurred the same month that Biden announced his 2020 presidential run. 

In April 2020, Director of External Relations Andrea Boyle Tippett confirmed to Campus Reform the university’s refusal to release the records, citing the fact that they are “still being processed” and that there are “many items yet to be cataloged, and reiterated the university’s position that ”the entire collection will remain closed to the public until two years after Mr. Biden retires from public life.”

Boyle Tippett admitted to Delaware Online in May that the policy change “was done in anticipation of Mr. Biden’s potential return to public office.”

[RELATED: VIDEO: Students appalled by footage of ‘creepy’ Joe Biden touching women]

The request for the records comes amid allegations that Biden sexually assaulted former senate aide Tara Reade in 1993 in a federal office building on Capitol Hill. Reade says she filed a complaint at the time but did not retain a copy. However, she believes that such a record, if it exists, would be in the University of Delaware’s possession, which obtained the records after Biden donated them to his alma mater in 2012. 

”I’m calling for the release of the documents being held by the University of Delaware that contain Biden’s staff personnel records because I believe it will have my complaint form, as well as my separation letter and other documents,” Reade told Fox News. “Maybe if other staffers that have tried to file complaints would come to light -- why are they under seal? And why won’t they be released to the public?” 

Expressing support for the lawsuit in a Wednesday tweet, Reade revealed that she was also denied access to the records.

“I emailed Univ of Delaware and my request for my records was denied. What if many people emailed and [sic]contacted the Univ of Delaware to unseal the files?” Reade wrote.

[RELATED: College Dems refuse to support Joe Biden amid sexual assault allegations]

Despite the refusal to release his senatorial records, Biden has insisted that he is committed to being open and transparent. On Thursday, he tweeted a video demanding that President Donald Trump release his tax returns since Biden released his. 

In May, Biden said that he was open to the records being released. “If it’s there, put it out, but I’ve never seen it,” Biden said in an interview on Morning Joe. In the interview, Biden denied the allegations, as he has throughout the process.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Dean_Barker