Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz is back in the news in connection to allegations that he was one of the men who had relations with underaged girls during trips with Jeffrey Epstein. New evidence has been released in the case that have rekindled the allegations against Dershowitz. Moreover, Dershowitz (who invited a defamation suit by the woman accusing him with having sex with her as a minor) is now seeking to dismiss the action and thus avoid discovery. Additionally, an early interview has been uncovered with what may be the single worst line since Bill Clinton’s “I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and didn’t like it. I didn’t inhale and I didn’t try it again.” When confronted on whether he did in fact accept a message from one of the women at Epstein’s mansion, Dershowitz admitted that he did but insisted “I kept my underwear on.”
Dershowitz played a key role in the securing of the sweetheart deal with Epstein that many of us have criticized for years as a flagrant injustice. The renewed attention to the case and the plea deal most recently led to the resignation of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 35, claims that when she was a minor when she was ordered by Epstein to have sex with Dershowitz six times. Dershowitz has long denied the allegation. However, Giuffre’s lawyers have said that she passed a polygraph examination on her allegation against Dershowitz. Moreover, Alfredo Rodriguez, Epstein’s butler, kept a “black book” of visitors and circled Dershowitz’s name as a “witness.” to the use of underaged girls for sex.
In a recent interview, Dershowitz insisted that his accused is an admitted prostitute as well as a serial liar: “The same woman that accused me claimed to have had dinner with Bill Clinton and two underage girls on Jeffrey Epstein’s island, claimed to have met Al Gore and Tipper Gore. Secret Service records show that all of that is fantasy and made up. This is a woman with a long, long record of lying for money.”
In a 2015 interview with Miami news station WPLG, Dershowitz reportedly admitted to getting a massage at the mansion. He insisted that he did not know of any incidents involving underaged girls: “Were there young women in another part of the house giving massages while I was around? I have no idea of that!” However, he added “I kept my underwear on during the massage. I don’t like massages particularly.”
In previous interviews, Dershowitz said that he wanted a lawsuit to allow for full discovery. On March 2, 2019, he said that his “accusers are Virginia Roberts and Sarah Ransom . . . I hereby accuse my false accusers of committing the felony of perjury and challenge them to sue me for defamation.” He was then sued but he is now seeking to avoid discovery with the dismissal of the lawsuit. He previously sought to disqualify his opposing lawyers.