Dershowitz Told By Attorneys He Cannot Legally Testify on Epstein Ties

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan M. Dershowitz was told by his attorneys that he could not legally testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, he said.

Dershowitz was scheduled to sit for an in-person, transcribed interview on his ties to the convicted sex criminal Jeffrey E. Epstein as part of a monthslong investigation into Epstein and his associates. Dershowitz, a high-profile defense attorney, helped negotiate Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea deal.

But his attorney has now reversed course, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee confirmed Friday, indicating to the committee that Dershowitz would not be present for the interview. The spokesperson said the committee had contacted Dershowitz’s attorney to reschedule the testimony.

The move is an about-face for Dershowitz, who has for months publicly expressed interest in testifying before the House. Dershowitz even appealed directly to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who chairs the Oversight Committee. (Dershowitz said he remained eager to testify.)

Comer formally requested Dershowitz sit for an interview last month after a meeting with several Epstein survivors and testimony from Epstein’s longtime assistant Lesley Groff.

At the time, Dershowitz said he would offer documentation to the committee showing that individuals with ties to Epstein should be evaluated “case by case.” He said that the full story of Epstein’s connections was “more nuanced and complex than its been presented.”

It is unclear what legal obligations stand in the way of his testimony. Dershowitz’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Oversight Committee has heard testimony from several high-profile figures with ties to Epstein since launching its investigation last summer, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Dershowitz is not the only Harvard affiliate the committee has expressed interest in speaking with. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Ca.), the ranking Democrat, said he hoped to speak with former University President Lawrence H. Summers because of his decades-long friendship with Epstein.

“Mr. Summers is someone that we as a committee have not had the chance to speak with, that we would like to speak with,” Garcia said in June. “It seems that his name continues to come up.”

Summers came up in Clinton’s February testimony, in which the former president said he was introduced to Epstein by the former Treasury secretary after they had left office, and described the convicted child predator as an “information hungry person.”

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.