Talking to Fox News host Tucker Carlson Monday night, investigative journalist Rich McHugh detailed his reporting on the latest person to corroborate former Senate staffer Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. McHugh explained that a neighbor of Reade, whom he deemed “very credible,” recalled Reade telling her about the incident with Biden in the mid-90s.
“Now another piece of cooperating evidence. One of Reade’s former neighbors in California has come forward to say Reade told her about it at the time,” Carlson informed viewers as he introduced his guest. McHugh, a former NBC News producer who worked with Ronan Farrow to uncover Harvey Weinstein’s long pattern of sexual abuse, described the new development:
Lynda LaCasse was a neighbor of Tara Reade back in 1995 and 1996 in Morro Bay – I think it’s Morro Bay, California. They were raising young kids, they lived catty-corner across from each. And Tara told her, she says, Tara told her this story pretty much verbatim of what we’d heard before back then. And I said, you know I asked her, I did a series of interviews with her and I said, “Tell me a story.” And she told me, you know that she recalls Tara telling her about the assault, that she had worked for Senator Biden, and that, you know, all the details of the story matched up with what I’d heard from others who were corroborating.
Building on her credibility, McHugh noted that she was a self-avowed Biden supporter:
I was in the process of asking her a series of questions, I said, you know, “Do you have an ax to grind? Is there something about the timing of this?” Trying to drill down....And she said, “No, actually, in fact I’m an ardent Democrat, lifelong Democrat. And I still plan to vote for Joe Biden, but people need – this needs to be heard because this happened.”
Carlson marveled: “She said, ‘I still plan to vote for Joe Biden,’ but she put her name on this. That’s amazing.”
The anchor then wondered: “So she told you that Tara Reade had passed this on to her at the time. For whatever it’s worth, did she say she believed allegation?” McHugh declared:
I asked her if she has any reason to doubt the veracity of the claims and she said, “Nothing. I’ve never known Tara to be a liar in any part of her life. She’s a good and honest person.” She believed her at the time, she believes her now, she believes her when she came out....Like this is a woman who is very credible, in my opinion. She lives a quiet, drama-free life and doesn’t need this, but is doing it out of the goodness of her heart.
Wrapping up the exchange, Carlson observed: “Well, they’re not going to dismiss her as a Trump supporter apparently, voting for Biden.”
Despite this latest compelling information corroborating Reade’s account – in addition to a 1993 video uncovered by NewsBusters on Friday showing Reade’s mother recounting her daughter’s accusation to CNN host Larry King – much of the liberal media have maintained their astonishing blackout of the growing Biden scandal.
Here is a full transcript of Carlson’s April 27 interview with McHugh:
8:32 AM ET
TUCKER CARLSON: Tara Reid’s accusations against former Vice President Joe Biden got an unexpected boost last week. Footage from Larry King Live more than 25 years ago resurfaced thanks to the effort of a Twitter reader. Now another piece of cooperating evidence. One of Reade’s former neighbors in California has come forward to say Reade told her about it at the time. Rich McHugh has been at the center of this story, one of the reporters covering it the most with the best sources. He’s an investigative journalist and film producer. He joins us tonight. Rich, thanks so much for coming on.
RICH MCHUGH: Thanks for having me, Tucker.
CARLSON: So outline for us, if you would, the apparently corroborating evidence we’ve just received from this former neighbor.
MCHUGH: Sure, so Lynda LaCasse was a neighbor of Tara Reade back in 1995 and 1996 in Morro Bay – I think it’s Morro Bay, California. They were raising young kids, they lived catty-corner across from each. And Tara told her, she says, Tara told her this story pretty much verbatim of what we’d heard before back then. And I said, you know I asked her, I did a series of interviews with her and I said, “Tell me a story.” And she told me, you know that she recalls Tara telling her about the assault, that she had worked for Senator Biden, and that, you know, all the details of the story matched up with what I’d heard from others who were corroborating.
But noted, this is the first woman who’s putting her name, she’s going on the record and saying, you know, “I have no problem going forward with this.” In fact, what’s even more interesting to me, when I was in the process of asking her a series of questions, I said, you know, “Do you have an ax to grind? Is there something about the timing of this?” Trying to drill down.
CARLSON: Good question.
MCHUGH: And she said, “No, actually, in fact I’m an ardent Democrat, lifelong Democrat. And I still plan to vote for Joe Biden, but people need – this needs to be heard because this happened.”
CARLSON: She said, “I still plan to vote for Joe Biden,” but she put her name on this. That’s amazing.
MCHUGH: She did, she’s very vocal about not wanting to vote for Donald Trump, but said, you know, “I’m still voting Democrat regardless.”
CARLSON: Did she – so she told you that Tara Reade had passed this on to her at the time. For whatever it’s worth, did she say she believed allegation?
MCHUGH: I asked her if she has any reason to doubt the veracity of the claims and she said, “Nothing. I’ve never known Tara to be a liar in any part of her life. She’s a good and honest person.” She believed her at the time, she believes her now, she believes her when she came out. She posted on Facebook, I think in March, she’s like, “This is my friend Tara Reade with her allegations against Joe Biden back in 1993.” Like this is a woman who is very credible, in my opinion. She lives a quiet, drama-free life and doesn’t need this, but is doing it out of the goodness of her heart.
CARLSON: Well, they’re not going to dismiss her as a Trump supporter apparently, voting for Biden. Rich McHugh, amazing story. Thank you for that.
MCHUGH: Thank you.
