The House Oversight Committee is moving to compel testimony from Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who defended Jeffrey Epstein after his initial arrest and negotiated the financier's contentious 2008 plea agreement.
Representative James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the panel, announced Wednesday that he would formally request Dershowitz appear before the committee. Comer said the decision came directly from testimony delivered the previous day by Lesley Groff, Epstein's longtime assistant, as well as conversations Comer held with survivors of Epstein's abuse.
"We will have questions for him and we will give him an opportunity to come in and answer several questions that arose yesterday," Comer said, referencing Groff's testimony and statements made by survivors during their meeting with him.
Dershowitz responded swiftly, telling the Guardian that he had already volunteered to testify. The Harvard Law professor said he had indicated his willingness on recent appearances on NewsMax and was eager to provide what he called "a much more nuanced and calibrated description of the complexity of these things."
"Everything I did in relation to the Epstein case, I'm proud of," Dershowitz said. "I'm not a reluctant witness. I wanted to testify from day one. I want the truth to come out."
The lawyer also suggested that NewsMax host Greta Van Susteren had contacted Comer's office on his behalf, calling it part of what led to Wednesday's formal request. Comer's spokesperson confirmed that Groff, when asked during her testimony whom else the committee should interview, specifically named Dershowitz. The spokesperson also noted that survivors in their meeting with Comer echoed that recommendation.
Dershowitz's legal role in the Epstein case has made him a controversial figure. In 2014, Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre alleged that Dershowitz sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager as part of Epstein's trafficking operation. Dershowitz denied the claims and was never charged. Giuffre sued him for defamation in 2019 after he publicly rejected her allegations, but dropped the lawsuit in 2022, saying she "may have made a mistake" in naming him. Giuffre died in April 2025.
Dershowitz stated that he had limited interaction with Groff, saying he "hardly knew" her but recalled seeing her at Epstein's office and believed she may have arranged some of his flights to meet with prosecutors. He emphasized that they never had substantive conversations.
The committee's investigation centers on the federal government's handling of the Epstein case and the related prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell. Comer's office indicated it would speak with anyone possessing relevant information about those matters.
Author James Rodriguez: "Dershowitz's willingness to testify could help clarify his role in Epstein's legal strategy, but the involvement of survivors in requesting his appearance signals this hearing will be far more adversarial than a simple legal retrospective."
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