The New York Times edited its initial story about a recent sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, removing qualifying language used to determine there was “no pattern of sexual misconduct” on the former vice president’s part.

On Sunday, the Times published an in-depth account of the new accusation leveled by Tara Reade, who briefly served in Biden’s Senate office in the early 1990s. Reade had first come forward in April 2019 to accuse the former vice president of unwanted touching.

In recent weeks, however, she has revealed there is allegedly more to the story. Reade now claims, in particular, that Biden pushed her against a wall and forcible penetrated her with his fingers, while she was employed by his office sometime in 1993. The former vice president’s campaign has denied the supposed incident ever took place.

The Times, which had held off on reporting on the matter until Sunday, delved into the accusation, but was unable to establish a firm conclusion apart from there being “differing recollections” about Reade’s tenure in Biden’s Senate office. Its article, as initially published, noted that Reade’s accusations was one of several, but claimed there was no “pattern of sexual misconduct” on the former vice president’s part.

The Times characterization about their being “no pattern” of misconduct, apart from unwanted “hugs, kisses, and touching” quickly elicited rebuke. Some described the qualifying language used by the outlet as “utterly unbelievable,” especially given the manner in which the Times had previously covered similar allegations against President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“We found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden, beyond hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable.” NYT also warns: “Filing a false police report may be punishable by a fine and imprisonment.” Utterly unbelievable: https://t.co/SwSqt0UnjR — Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) April 12, 2020

Wait what IS this sentence? pic.twitter.com/K4p91esw6n — Slade (@Slade) April 12, 2020

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