Alan Dershowitz, the former attorney for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is set to be called before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its investigation into Epstein's crimes. Representative James Comer, the Republican committee chair, announced the decision on Wednesday, citing testimony from Epstein's longtime assistant, Lesley Groff, and meetings with Epstein survivors.
Background on the Investigation
Comer stated that the committee will ask Dershowitz to appear and answer questions. 'I am going to ask Alan Dershowitz to come in, we will have questions for him, and we will give him an opportunity to come in,' Comer said. He added that the decision was based on Groff's testimony on Tuesday and subsequent discussions with several Epstein survivors. 'We will have questions for him and we will give him an opportunity to come in and answer several questions that arose yesterday based on Ms Groff's testimony and some things that some of the Epstein survivors said,' Comer explained.
The transcript of Groff's testimony has not yet been released. In her opening statement, Groff claimed she had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes while working for him and described him as a 'master manipulator and deceiver.'
Dershowitz's Role and Allegations
Dershowitz defended Epstein after his first arrest and was part of the legal team that negotiated Epstein's controversial 2008 plea deal. In 2014, Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein survivor, alleged that Dershowitz sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager as part of Epstein's sex trafficking operation. Dershowitz has strongly denied these claims and has never been charged. Giuffre sued Dershowitz in 2019 for defamation but dropped the lawsuit in 2022, stating she 'may have made a mistake' in accusing him. Giuffre died in April 2025.
Dershowitz's Response
In a phone interview with the Guardian on Wednesday, Dershowitz said he had 'volunteered to testify' before the committee, referencing recent appearances on NewsMax where he expressed willingness to appear. 'I can present a much more nuanced and calibrated description of the complexity of these things,' the Harvard Law professor said. 'I'm not a reluctant witness, I wanted to testify, as I said from day one, I want the truth to come out.' He added, 'Everything I did in relation to the Epstein case, I'm proud of.'
Dershowitz also claimed that NewsMax host Greta Van Susteren reached out to Comer's office on Tuesday about his willingness to testify, suggesting that her outreach and his offer led to the request. A spokesperson from Comer's office told the Guardian that 'the House oversight committee will speak with anyone who has information about the federal government's handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases and their crimes.' They added that 'yesterday Lesley Groff named, when asked who else should come before the committee, Alan Dershowitz' and that 'Chairman Comer also met with survivors yesterday who also stated Dershowitz should be interviewed.'
Dershowitz on Groff
Dershowitz told the Guardian he 'hardly knew' Groff but saw her 'on a couple of occasions sitting behind the desk at Epstein's office' and that 'she arranged, I think, perhaps some flights when I was going down there to be his lawyer to speak to the US attorney or the state attorney, but I've never had any substantive conversations with her.'
