The growing evidence for Tara Reade’s claim that Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 may still not be enough to prove her case. But look at it from the perspective of Occam’s Razor. Does it seem more likely that Reade committed to a lie, falsely smearing Biden (mostly in private) as a criminal assailant for at least a quarter-century? Or that Reade, however wacky, is now telling the truth publicly after years of considering the consequences, the trauma, and the blowing up of Biden’s political fortunes?

We already had one on-the-record witness. Reade’s former neighbor Lynda LaCasse claims that Reade detailed Biden forcibly pushing his hand up her skirt and penetrating her, corroborating her allegation against Biden in detail just two or three years after it happened. We also have the Larry King Live tape, evidently documenting Reade’s mother claiming her daughter had insurmountable “problems” working for a prominent senator in August 1993, the last month Reade worked for Biden. Three other witnesses claim that Reade alleged assault or harassment at the time, although one, Reade’s brother, changed his story, and the other two refuse to be named or directly quoted.