A media veteran who co-founded the Hill and was an adviser during Politco’s pre-launch said that he doesn’t want an investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden, but instead just wants “a win” against President Trump.
Martin Tolchin responded to a New York Times editorial board piece from Friday that urged the Democratic National Committee to investigate the allegations that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, Tara Reade, in 1993.
The New York Times’s editorial board called on the DNC to “investigate the matter swiftly and thoroughly.” And noted, “As is so often the case in such situations, it is all but impossible to be certain of the truth. But the stakes are too high to let the matter fester — or leave it to be investigated by and adjudicated in the media. Mr. Biden is seeking the nation’s highest office.”
Tolchin, who also worked for the New York Times for 40 years, issued a letter to the outlet published Monday that said an investigation into Reade’s allegations would only hurt Biden’s chances of beating Trump in November.
“I totally disagree with this editorial. I don’t want an investigation. I want a coronation of Joe Biden,” Tolchin, 91, wrote. “I don’t want justice, whatever that may be. I want a win, the removal of Donald Trump from office, and Mr. Biden is our best chance.”
Frame it and hang it on a wall. pic.twitter.com/QeBH2P9jnT
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 5, 2020
“Suppose an investigation reveals damaging information concerning his relationship with Tara Reade or something else, and Mr. Biden loses the nomination to Senator Bernie Sanders or someone else with a minimal chance of defeating Mr. Trump. Should we really risk the possibility?”
Reade first came forward with her accusations on March 25 that Biden pushed her against a wall and penetrated her with his fingers in 1993.
Biden personally denied Reade’s accusations publicly for the first time last week.
“I recognize my responsibility to be a voice, an advocate, and a leader for the change in culture that has begun but is nowhere near finished. So I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago,” Biden said in a statement released Friday morning. “They aren’t true. This never happened.”
He doubled down on denying the allegations on Morning Joe the same day. “I don’t remember any type of complaint she may have made. It was 27 years ago. … I don’t remember, nor does anyone else that I’m aware of,” he said, adding that no nondisclosure agreements were signed.
Both outlets Tolchin helped found have been covering Reade’s allegations, but as FiveThirtyEight points out about Politico, “early mentions of Reade appeared in articles that did not focus on her.” Primarily outlets described as “conservative” were ones to report daily updates on the accusations.
Tolchin, who released a book on journalism last year, said that the Trump administration has motivated “very good reporting.”
“There’s nothing like adversity to get fearless,” Tolchin said, according to the Hill. “And Trump has done that.”
Editor’s note: Tolchin was previously described as co-founder of Politico but the New York Times later revised his role to an adviser during their pre-launch.
