'Never happened': Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denies sexual assault accusations
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Biden also said Reade's then-supervisor and former senior staffers in his office 'have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues.'
In first public remarks, US Presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday denied any sexual assault allegations related to a former staffer in his US Senate office.
The incident she claimed occurred in 1993 "They aren't true. This never happened,", Biden said in an e-mailed statement.
Biden also said Reade's then-supervisor and former senior staffers in his office "have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues."
Biden's statement comes a month after constant grilling by media for his silence over the accusations. A lot of people including his democratic colleagues urged Biden to come out in public and directly respond to the accusations.
A California woman named Tara Reade, who worked as a staff assistant in Biden's US Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, has accused Biden in media interviews of pinning her against a wall in 1993, reaching under her skirt and pushing his fingers inside her.
Reade, 56, told media interviewers she complained at the time about sexual harassment, though not sexual assault, to three of Biden's Senate aides. The Biden campaign released a statement from one, Marianne Baker, who said she never received any report of inappropriate behavior in nearly 20 years of working for Biden.
Biden is set to challenge Republican President Donald Trump, 73, in the November 3 US election. Trump has been accused by more than a dozen women of sexual assault and misconduct over the years, allegations he and his aides have denied.
(With inputs from agencies)