I thought I was going to Moscow for a week, now it seems I’m here for the long haul
Tara Reade, author, poet, actor and former Senate aide, author of Left Out: When the Truth Doesn’t Fit In. Listen to her podcast https://thepoliticsofsurvivalwithtarareade.buzzsprout.com/
Tara Reade, author, poet, actor and former Senate aide, author of Left Out: When the Truth Doesn’t Fit In. Listen to her podcast https://thepoliticsofsurvivalwithtarareade.buzzsprout.com/
@readealexandra
© Tara Reade
My plan was to oversee the translation of my book, stay in Moscow for a week, and do an interview with Russia’s Channel One. Then, I was going to go home. So much for that!
Later this summer, I was supposed to testify before the US Congress about President Joe Biden’s actions towards me and the weaponization of the Department of Justice. Best-laid plans, and all that! A few days after my arrival, I found myself giving a press conference stating that I could not go back to the US.
This is because I could face charges and possible indictment for an ominous menu of kangaroo-court offenses, including sanctions violations, FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) violations and any number of other things.
There’s a sealed Department Of Justice indictment against me and I still don’t know what that’s about. My human rights attorney warned me that, under current US law, I could have sealed charges I am unaware of until taken into custody. A sitting US Congressman said he feared for my physical safety if I came back to the US.
I decided to stay and got help from Maria Butina, a Russian State Duma member, in applying for asylum. Maria knew the terror and grim reality of being in US prisons, having spent 15 months locked up for allegedly acting as an unregistered “foreign agent.” They kept her in solitary confinement for months and made her life a living hell. Yet, Maria maintained her compassion and care for ordinary Americans and saved her anger for those in charge who caused her misery. Maria had been on my podcast several times as we discussed the two-tier American justice system and its brutal use of torture.
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Maria remained steadfast in her friendship and helped me navigate the shell shock I felt as my own government had turned on me because I was telling the truth. The first few days after I decided to stay in Moscow were a blur of phone calls and paperwork as I navigated my new state of being. I said painful goodbyes to my daughter as she sobbed on the phone and was left dealing with packing up my apartment and organizing care for my three cats and a horse. My daughter was amazing and efficient even as our emotions were running high.
It was done. I was staying in Moscow with no plans to return to the US. At least, not while Biden remains in power. My heart remained broken as I saw headlines calling me a traitor. How was I the traitor? Biden raped me, silenced me and is now preventing me from testifying? The dizzy feeling, as I saw each major news outlet weigh in, settled into a despair that I was never going to be really heard. However, something that stayed with me was that I felt safe in Russia. I felt seen, heard and respected.
The first time I saw Moscow, I had 16 hours of jet lag and had been awake for 24 hours. The early morning red streaks across the sky brought me wide awake and I knew I would not sleep. Instead, I would meet the day and see Moscow in all its grandeur. I have traveled to many places and most major cities in the US, and Moscow stands out as one of the most beautiful, cleanest cities I have ever seen. The streets bustling with locals and tourists seemed untouched by the Western sanctions.
The only telltale signs of the Western companies’ departures were some closed designer stores and the replacement of Starbucks with the Russian-owned equivalent, named simply Stars, and the barista lady much less brash and more modest than I’m used to. That night I slept the deepest sleep I had known in a very long time. I finally felt safe.
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I am an American who grew at a time when the United States was engulfed in leftover innocence on the domestic front while engaging in predatory foreign adventures. The neoliberal “woke” agenda had not yet taken hold and crony capitalism was just building to its disastrous crescendo. Like many of my generation, I was shiny with ambitious hope. I went to work for some of the most politically powerful figures in Western politics, Leon Panetta and then later Biden. The rest is, as they say, history, with me coming forward about the latter’s misconduct in 1993, 2019 and 2020.
The result of my audacity in calling out the crimes of an elite Democrat were swift and brutal. I lost everything – and my reputation took a battering – as Biden’s political machine, aided by the corporate media, destroyed my credibility. I was even threatened with prison twice. As Biden continued to weaponize his DOJ and FBI against me and others deemed me a political enemy, I continued to speak out, write a book, and even start a podcast.
I had always had a special place in my heart for Russia. The russophobia and bigotry in the Western media against Russians was very disturbing to me. Then, it became flat out xenophobia. The playbook used by the elite to manipulate the press was the same, whether going after individuals like me that were whistleblowing corruption, or whole nations like Russia. This method is used to vilify, isolate, and finally replace the truth with a state-approved narrative.
I decided to take back control and held a press conference to proudly declare my intentions to stay in Russia. I got myself some amazing human rights lawyers who took my case under their wing and sorted through the international implications. Recently, the Russian Federation granted me temporary asylum. So, I have decided to stay.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
