WASHINGTON — Tara Reade, the woman who has accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s, will appear in her first on-camera interview since Biden publicly denied her claim.

She has also secured the services of a law firm that has represented women who accused movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

Reade sat down for an interview Thursday with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. The interview is produced by Rich McHugh, who was Ronan Farrow's producer at NBC News during his investigation into the assault claims that toppled Weinstein. Before leaving Fox News, Kelly was among a half dozen other women who accused founder and former CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment.

"(Reade) gets very candid, very emotional, and handles many direct challenges to her account. She also has a message directly for the former vice president," Kelly told The Hill ahead of the interview's release.

In a preview of the interview released on Twitter Thursday afternoon, Reade said she wishes the former vice president would drop out of the race but said it was "a little late" for an apology from him.

"I wish he would (withdraw from the race)," Reade said. "But he won't. But I wish he would. That's how I feel emotionally."

Reade told Kelly that she has had "really horrible things" said about her by Biden supporters on the Internet, and received a death threat over accusations she was a Russian agent due to old writing praising Vladimir Putin. Reade told the New York Times those writings were taken out of context.

"I want to say, you and I were there, Joe Biden. Please step forward and be held accountable. You should not be running on character for the president of the United States," Reade said in the interview clip released Thursday.

Wigdor LLP, a firm that has also represented Weinstein accusers, will represent Reade. Douglas Wigdor, a founding partner of the firm, also was a vocal advocate for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault during his Supreme Court confirmation in 2018.

"Our representation of #TaraReade has nothing to do with politics. We at Wigdor LLP firmly believe that every survivor of sexual assault has the right to competent legal counsel, and we will represent Ms. Reade zealously, just as we would any other victim of sexual violence," the firm said on Twitter on Thursday. 

  

Reade accused Biden of sexually assaulting her when she worked in his Senate office in 1993. Biden denied the allegation in an MSNBC "Morning Joe" interview last week.

"This, never, ever happened," he said. "I don't know what is motivating her ... But it's irrelevant. It never happened. It never happened. Period."

Reade said she complained about sexual harassment to her supervisors at the time, but they denied having such conversations in interviews with The New York Times. Reade has also said she filed a report with a Senate personnel office but does not have a copy of it. The Senate secretary has said any such report could not be disclosed to the public.

Wigdor LLP said on Twitter it would be "inevitable" that people will attack the firm, noting Douglas Wigdor supported President Donald Trump in 2016, but that the firm's mission is to provide counsel to "all legitimate victims."

"Her harrowing account is credible and supported by numerous 'outcry' witnesses from decades ago," Wigdor LLP said.

Wigdor didn't say when Kelly's full interview would be released when reached by USA TODAY.