By Felicia Sonmez and Elise Viebeck, Washington Post
April 1 at 8:32 PM
A former congressional aide to Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) says former vice president Joe Biden touched her inappropriately at a 2009 fundraiser, the second woman to make allegations against Biden in the past week.
Biden has long been known for his intimate physical style. But the appropriateness of his behavior toward women is coming under scrutiny as he nears an announcement on a potential 2020 presidential bid. Late last week, Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state legislator, penned an essay in which she said that Biden acted inappropriately toward her at a 2014 campaign event and made her feel uncomfortable.
In a statement Monday, the former congressional aide, Amy Lappos, said she was speaking out about her own experience because she was disappointed in the “ridiculously dismissive” way Democrats — including Biden — had responded to Flores’s account.
“Biden’s statement in response to Lucy’s article was not only disturbing, it was disgusting,” Lappos said. “I stand by Lucy and any woman with the courage to come forward regarding inappropriate behavior by men.”
In a comment Sunday on a “Connecticut Women in Politics” Facebook post that shared Flores’s story, Lappos said Biden “did something similar to me” at a Greenwich, Conn., fundraiser for Himes.
“I can speak from experience when I say it’s an incredibly uncomfortable situation and not at all acceptable,” Lappos wrote under the pseudonym “Alice Paul,” according to the Hartford Courant. “We need to hold our men to the same standards we hold all men.”
The “Alice Paul” account includes photos of Lappos and has pictures in common with Lappos’s personal Facebook account.
Lappos, 43, went on the record about the alleged incident in an interview Monday with the Courant. She said Biden, then 66, moved toward her while she was in the kitchen with several other volunteers at the private residence where the fundraiser was being held.
It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,” she told the newspaper. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.”
Lappos worked as an aide to Himes from January 2009 to November 2016, primarily as a constituent services representative and grants coordinator, according to Legistorm, a congressional research firm. Her LinkedIn page lists her as the owner of Moma Grants, a freelance grant-writing service.
A Biden spokesman referred The Washington Post to a statement the former vice president issued on Sunday, in which Biden said he had offered “countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort” during his years in public life,“and not once — never — did I believe I acted inappropriately.”
A Himes spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The news comes days after Flores said in her piece for New York magazine’s The Cut that Biden approached her from behind during a 2014 campaign rally, placed his hands on her shoulders, moved closer to her and planted a “big slow kiss” on the back of her head. She said Sunday that his behavior had made her feel “powerless” and “like I couldn’t move.”
It also comes as Biden is under increasing pressure from women’s rights groups, prominent African American leaders and other supporters of Anita Hill to acknowledge his responsibility for his handling of the 1991 confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the hearing took place; he recently sparked a backlash when he said he regretted that he “couldn’t come up with a way to get [Hill] the kind of hearing she deserved.”
In her statement Monday, Lappos said she believes referring to Biden’s behavior as “simply affection” or “grandpa-like” or “friendly” is “part of the problem.”
“Uninvited affection is not okay. Objectifying women is not okay. Men who invade a woman’s personal space, touch women inappropriately, sexually harass women and feed rape culture have no place in a position of power,” she said.
She called on Biden and the other Democratic men running for the White House to “step aside and support one of the many talented and qualified women running.”
Lappos told the Hartford Courant she did not report the alleged 2009 incident at the time because “he was the vice president. I was a nobody.” She said she believed Biden’s behavior had crossed a line of “decency” and “respect.”
The $1,000-per-ticket fundraiser took place Oct. 5, 2009, at the Greenwich, Conn., home of Ron Moelis, an affordable-housing developer. The event was covered for the Stamford Advocate by Neil Vigdor, the reporter who broke the story about Lappos’s allegations on Monday for the Courant.
and especially:
Her personal Facebook page prominently displays a black-and-white photo of five female Democratic presidential candidates: Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii). The photo was posted on Feb. 21.
A day before her allegations were covered by the Courant, Lappos commented on Biden on Facebook, republishing text that criticized his performance during past presidential bids, along with the performance of other male presidential candidates in past elections.
“THIS- elect women already. Geeze,” she wrote.
Which is all too telling about her motives for making the allegation against Biden.
