Legal experts say deposition transcripts that a federal judge unsealed Friday may have dealt a serious, if not mortal, blow to the credibility of accusations that Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz was among the celebrities who had sex with a woman involved in an underage sex ring linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, alleged that Dershowitz had sex with her when she was working for Epstein.
Dershowitz has unequivocally denied the allegations, and has demanded the FBI conduct an investigation into the charges in an effort to clear his name.
Dershowitz has stated he has travel records and receipts that prove he could not have been involved with the accuser. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh has examined the evidence in the case and concluded “the totality of the evidence refutes the allegations against Professor Dershowitz.”
The documents unsealed in federal court include emails from 2011 in which Giuffre asks a journalist who had written a story about her to provide the names of the abusers she had mentioned. In one response, journalist Sharon Churcher wrote that while there was “no proof” of wrongdoing on Dershowitz’s part, Giuffre should include his name in her book proposal.
“Don’t forget Alan Dershowitz, JE’s buddy and lawyer,” Churcher wrote, according to unsealed court records, as reported by The Daily Beast. “Good name for your pitch as he repped Claus von Bulow and a movie was made about that case … you probably met him when he was hanging out with JE.”
That Giuffre apparently relied on a prompting from Churcher to include Dershowitz’s name, and Churcher herself said there was “no proof” of any malfeasance, raises serious questions about the charges Dershowitz has so vehemently denied.
David Oscar Markus, a prominent Miami attorney and legal analyst, called the newly revealed documents “devastating to Giuffre’s credibility.”
Dershowitz himself addressed the documents’ significance Friday, stating: “The release today of sealed documents, which I have been trying to unseal for three years, categorically proves that Virginia Roberts never had sex with me.”
Markus, who was one of Dershowitz’s students when he attended Harvard Law School, told Newsmax via email Monday afternoon: “The newly released email is devastating to Giuffre’s credibility and supports Dershowitz’s position that he has maintained since the very beginning -- the allegations against him are all made up.
“The documents make clear that Giuffre never mentioned Dershowitz until it was suggested to her in an email many years later as a way of selling her story,” he added. “One would hope that these documents put an end to this.”
As of Monday afternoon, there was no response to email requests and voice mails from Newsmax requesting a comment from Giuffre’s attorneys. The journalist who reportedly sent the emails, Churcher, also did not respond to inquiries.
The complete statement issued by Dershowitz:
“The release today of sealed documents -- which I have been trying to unseal for three years -- categorically proves that Virginia Roberts never had sex with me.
“They prove that as far back as June of 2001, Roberts never included me among the numerous people she claimed to have sex with.
"She invented the false accusation against me only in 2014, when her lawyers ‘pressured’ her to do so for financial reasons.
“In 2011, Roberts emailed [journalist Sharon] Churcher asking Churcher to remind her who she (Roberts) had told Churcher who she had sex with when Churcher interviewed her. Roberts said she wanted to put the names of the people she had sex with in her manuscript.
“Churcher responds that although there is ‘no proof’ that she ever had sex with me, she should include me in the manuscript as ‘JE’s buddy and lawyer.’
“Churcher tells Roberts that mine would be a ‘good name for your pitch as he repped Claus von Bulow and a movie was made about that.’
“Churcher tells Roberts that she probably ‘met’ me when I was hanging around Jeffrey Epstein.
“Roberts then puts me in her manuscript, but not as someone she ever had sex with. She includes other people she claims to have had sex with but explicitly excludes me, claiming to have met me only once when I discussed business with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Churcher’s lawyer has confirmed that Roberts never told Churcher that she had sex with me.
“I never met Virginia Roberts. I never had sex with an underage person.
“I never socialized or had sex with any woman connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Since the day I met Jeffrey Epstein, I have had sexual contact with only one woman, namely my wife.
“These newly unsealed manuscripts confirm the recorded statement made by Virginia Roberts’ closest friend, who Roberts told she never wanted to accuse me, but felt pressured to do so by her lawyer.
“The federal government should investigate Roberts’ lawyers to determine whether they pressured Roberts to falsely accuse me.”
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