Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz repeated denials that he engaged in sexual relations with an underage woman, writing in a new Op-Ed for the Miami Herald that he had proof his accuser, Virginia Roberts, had lied.
“I have a tape recording of a conversation with Roberts’ closest friend in which she says that Roberts told her she ‘felt pressure to go after [Dershowitz]’ in order to obtain money from a wealthy businessman,” wrote Dershowitz on Sunday. “The evidence of my innocence is indisputable: I never met Roberts; I never had sex with her; she simply made up the entire story for money.”
Roberts made her accusation against Dershowitz in court documents in January 2015, claiming that she and the lawyer had sex on a ranch, plane and private island all owned by billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Dershowitz had been serving as Epstein’s lawyer at the time — and confirmed to Axios that he remains so today.
The details of Roberts’ accusation came to broad public attention last week as part of a series from the Miami Herald into the Epstein case — which quoted directly from a sworn affidavit from Roberts.
“I had sexual intercourse with Dershowitz at least six times,” she said, the paper reported. “The first time was when I was about 16, early on in my servitude to Epstein and it continued until I was 19.”
Dershowitz said the nature of the accusation made it impossible for him to bring legal action, but urged Roberts to repeat her claims outside of court so he could sue her.
“I challenge her to repeat her false accusations out of court, so that I can sue her for defamation and let a jury decide — after seeing all the evidence, including the suppressed emails and book manuscript — who is telling the truth and who is lying,” he said.
Dershowitz, a prominent criminal defense attorney for decades, has seen his profile rise in recent years with his staunch defenses of President Trump on television and his critical positions on the Special Counsel. That contrarian streak has not always sat well with many of his liberal friends. This summer, he faced ostracism from his neighbors’ on the island of Martha’s Vineyard — resulting in a curious news cycle which persisted for several days.