House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called it “unacceptable” Tuesday that attorney Alan Dershowitz failed to appear Monday for a scheduled transcribed interview as part of the committee’s probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Your counsel failed to provide a reason for your refusal to testify,” Comer wrote In a letter sent Tuesday to Dershowitz. “When Committee staff followed up with your counsel via email on July 15 and 17, 2026, your counsel again failed to provide an explanation for your refusal to attend your transcribed interview.”
“This is unacceptable,” Comer wrote.
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In a brief phone call with ABC News last Friday, Dershowitz said his lawyers “instructed him that he is not permitted to testify at this time.”
He declined to provide additional details about the reason or when it might be rescheduled.
Dershowitz was a member of a legal team that represented Epstein during multiple investigations of the now-deceased sex offender, beginning in the mid 2000s.
Comer requested that Dershowitz appear for a videotaped transcribed interview after he consulted with several Epstein victims following the appearance before the panel of Epstein’s former executive secretary Lesley Groff.
Amir Cohen/Reuters – Alan Dershowitz sits for a photo during a visit to Israel, in Tel Aviv, December 8, 2022.
“We will have questions for him,” Comer said of Dershowitz on June 10. “We’re going to give him an opportunity to come in and answer several, several questions that arose yesterday based on Ms. Groff’s testimony and some things that some of the Epstein survivors said.”
Dershowitz previously said he was eager to appear before the House panel regarding his work representing Epstein, saying he “has a lot of relevant information” about the disgraced financier.
In a phone interview with ABC News in early June, Dershowitz said he was “shocked” that the committee had not yet reached out to schedule an interview.
“I would be the most relevant person for them to call,” Dershowitz said. “I want it to be open. I want it to be under oath.”
Dershowitz claimed to have information that would contradict some of the testimony the committee has already heard, arguing that some of Epstein’s victims were “complicit.”
“The area is much grayer than it looks,” Dershowitz said.
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Comer is now requesting that Dershowitz testify for an in-person videotaped transcribed interview on Sept. 2, 2026.
“The Committee is committed to a transparent investigation and expects you to be forthcoming. The Committee will not tolerate any further delay,” Comer wrote in his letter.
“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,” he wrote.
