Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden asked the secretary of the Senate to locate an alleged harassment complaint from a former staffer Tara Reade.

In a letter sent Friday to Secretary of the Senate Julie E. Adams, Biden requests "that you take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of this search."

"I would ask that the public release include not only a complaint if one exists, but any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation," the letter continues.

Reade has alleged that Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer in 1993. After making her allegations last month on a podcast, Reade filed a criminal complaint against Biden, alleging he shoved his hand under her skirt and penetrated her with his fingers in a Senate corridor in 1993, Insider previously reported.

Biden has denied the accusation and publicly addressed it on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Friday morning.

"No, it is not true," Biden said on "Morning Joe."

"Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false," Katie Bedingfield, Biden's communications director, said in light of the allegations.

Reade also claims she was sexually harassed when she worked in Biden's office, stating that she was told to "serve drinks at an event because Biden liked the way she looked," Insider also reported.

On Friday, Biden called for the National Archives to release any records that might that could see if there was ever a complaint brought against him for sexual misconduct. The National Archive said they didn't have them and that they're most likely held by the Senate.

"I'm confident there is nothing no one that I'm aware of filed a complaint, no one in my office at the time is aware of any such request or complaint," Biden said on "Morning Joe." "I'm not worried about it at all. If there's a complaint, that's where it would be."

Reade said Biden's Senate papers at the University of Delaware could have evidence of her accusations. However, Biden claimed his Senate papers wouldn't include personnel records.

Reade said while she never brought up the assault to aides, she did bring up the harassment including to former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman.

"Ted Kaufman took notes when I spoke with him," Reade told Insider. She thinks those notes could be retrieved in the Senate archives.

Kaufman told Insider he didn't remember Reade.

As of Thursday, Biden's campaign avoided requests to open the 1,875 boxes of records, Insider reported. A spokeswoman for the University of Delaware told Insider that the collection was accessed by Biden's campaign staff in the spring of 2019.

According to Insider, members of Congress don't have to release their official records, and if they choose to make them public, they can choose what to make public and what to keep private, according to Insider.

"I think access to his senatorial records would help to vet Tara Reade's claims because they would contain records from the time that she worked for him," Lata Nott, a fellow at the Freedom Forum Institute's First Amendment Center, told Insider. "The First Amendment doesn't say you have to release your senatorial papers, but you know what? It would be good if you did. It would show a commitment to openness and transparency and the public understanding of what you did in your time as a senator and how you would be as a presidential candidate."

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Joe Biden allows access to Senate records tied to assault allegations - Business Insider