The House Oversight Committee has threatened to subpoena Alan Dershowitz, a former lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein, after the attorney abruptly canceled a scheduled interview. Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) stated in a letter to Dershowitz that the panel "will not tolerate any further delay" and requested an in-person, videotaped, transcribed interview on September 2, 2026.
"Accordingly, we reiterate our request that you testify at an in-person, videotaped transcribed interview on September 2, 2026. If you fail to adhere to this request, the Committee will explore all available tools at its disposal, including the use of the compulsory process," Comer wrote.
Dershowitz told The Post that a "legal development" occurred that prevented him from attending the previously scheduled July 20 interview, adding that "It's out of my hands. It's completely out of my control." He has previously asserted he has "nothing to hide" regarding his defense of Epstein in the 2000s.
Dershowitz's counsel, Imran Ansari, declined to comment.
The Republican-led committee's investigation is examining the "alleged mismanagement of the federal government's investigation" into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The committee has interviewed over a dozen individuals connected to Epstein.
Epstein, who died in a Manhattan prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, had pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor in Florida in 2008. This plea resulted from a 2007 non-prosecution agreement. Alex Acosta, the former U.S. Attorney who oversaw the case, previously told the Oversight panel that Epstein's defense team, including Dershowitz, "skirted the line of 'misconduct'" in their handling of the case, describing some tactics as "distasteful."
In a May interview with The Post's "Pod Force One" podcast, Dershowitz stated that Epstein had information on "only one person," whom he did not identify, and suggested that "many of his crimes are exaggerated." Dershowitz also claimed Epstein was interested in collecting information but did not "affirmatively blackmail people."
Last year, the Department of Justice concluded that Epstein did not maintain a "client list" of influential associates implicated in his crimes and that he died by suicide. Separately, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told the committee in June that Epstein attempted to use his extramarital affairs as leverage but did not successfully blackmail him for money.