A House panel threatened to subpoena famed criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz if he fails to testify under oath about his professional and personal relationship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants to question Mr. Dershowitz about Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes, but he refused to show up for a hearing on Monday.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Mr. Dershowitz has “stated publicly” that he has information related to Epstein and his associates that is connected to the panel’s investigation.
Mr. Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law professor, served as a legal adviser to Epstein, although he said the two cut ties in 2007 following Epstein’s plea agreement on state charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Emails released in the Epstein files show Mr. Dershowitz remained in contact with Epstein and continued to provide legal advice up to 2019, the year the financier died.
Mr. Dershowitz once appeared eager to testify before the Oversight panel. The panel has interviewed more than a dozen witnesses in a wide-ranging probe of Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and the Justice Department’s handling of his crimes.
Mr. Dershowitz, however, backed out of his appearance at the last minute.
“Your counsel failed to provide a reason for your refusal to testify. This is unacceptable,” Mr. Comer, Kentucky Republican, wrote to Mr. Dershowitz on Tuesday.
The panel called on Mr. Dershowitz to appear for a closed-door, transcribed interview on Sept. 2.
In a May interview on “Pod Force One,” Mr. Dershowitz described what he knew about Epstein’s behavior.
He said the disgraced financier “was interested in 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds, 18-year-olds,” which he called “a terrible thing,” but not fitting the technical definition of a pedophile, who targets much younger children.
“I don’t think there’s a real case to be called a pedophile. I also don’t believe there was any trafficking going on,” Mr. Dershowitz said.
He added, “What happened is he made it known to young people in Palm Beach [Florida] if you come and give me a massage, you get $250. And many of them came back over and over and over again collecting $250 and then got $500 if they recruited other people to come and give him more massages.”
Mr. Dershowitz said some of the girls who received financial settlements out of a fund for victims never met Epstein but were recruited by corrupt lawyers and urged to say they provided him with a massage in exchange for a payoff.
Epstein’s victims say more than 1,000 girls were recruited into the sex trafficking ring.
The Oversight panel has interviewed a list of high-profile witnesses who associated with Epstein, including Bill Gates and former President Bill Clinton. The panel will interview Jes Staley, a former banking executive, on July 23. Mr. Staley last month lost his appeal of a U.K. financial regulator’s decision to ban him from the industry due to his ties to Epstein.
All the witnesses have denied participating in or having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting federal sex trafficking charges. His accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence for helping him carry out the crimes.
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