Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer in George W. Bush’s White House and an outspoken Never Trumper, exploded at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after she said she believes Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden.
Over the weekend, Britain’s Sunday Times published an interview with Omar, in which she said she believes Biden sexually assaulted Reade in 1993.
“I do believe Reade,” the Minnesota Democrat told the newspaper. “Justice can be delayed, but should never be denied.”
The following day, Omar affirmed she will vote for Biden in the upcoming presidential election while once again insisting that she believes Reade’s allegations against the presumptive Democrat nominee.
“Believing survivors is consistent with my values,” the “Squad” member tweeted Monday. “Yes, I endorsed against Biden and I didn’t pick him as our nominee. With that said, in this interview I did on May 6th, we talked about that and quotes aren’t always in context. I will vote for him and help him defeat Trump.”
Later that evening, Painter took to Twitter to call Omar’s comments “ridiculous” and asked whether Democrats were attempting to lose November’s election against President Trump.
“This is ridiculous. Two days after Reade’s lawyer quit because she has trouble telling the truth. Are Democrats trying to lose this race?” Painter wrote. “First the anti-Semitic slurs about the ‘Benjamins.’ Now @IlhanMN is supporting an unfounded allegation against Biden by an admirer of Vladimir Putin. This is insane. Great way to hand the election to @realDonaldTrump.”
In a subsequent tweet, the Never Trump expressed support for Minneapolis attorney Antone Melton-Meaux, a self-described progressive Democrat running against Omar in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.
Painter wrote: “Tired of hearing antisemitic slurs from @IlhanMN? Tired of her saying she thinks @JoeBiden is guilty of sexual assault because a pro-Putin accuser says he is? Support @Antone_MN for Congress in the August primary for MN CD 5. Enough is enough.”
Painter lost to Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) in the DFL primary election in 2018.
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