House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) formally requested Friday that Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz appear before the panel for a videotaped, under-oath interview as part of its ongoing investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Comer sent a letter to Dershowitz dated June 12, citing “public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney” as the basis for the request.
The interview is scheduled for July 9 in Washington, D.C. Comer pledged to publicly release the transcript and video “as expeditiously as practical” after the session.
The request follows testimony from Lesley Groff, a former assistant to Epstein, and a subsequent meeting Comer held with Epstein survivors. “Based on the testimony from Ms. Groff, as well as a meeting that I had afterwards with several of the Epstein survivors, I am going to ask Alan Dershowitz to come in,” Comer told reporters earlier this week.
Dershowitz was a central figure in negotiating Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, in which the financier pleaded guilty to two Florida state prostitution charges in exchange for immunity from federal sex-trafficking charges. Epstein served 13 months in prison under that arrangement, a deal that drew sharp criticism from prosecutors, survivors, and lawmakers for years.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, alleged that Epstein trafficked her to Dershowitz. She later recanted that allegation as part of a legal settlement. Dershowitz has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
The Oversight Committee is also seeking a deposition from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has been among the most vocal defenders of the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files. The panel has separately received testimony from other figures with Epstein ties, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
