Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer has weighed in on the heated controversy surrounding his “client list”—and his ties to President Donald Trump.
Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile defense attorney who joined Epstein’s legal team in 2005 when he was under investigation for sexual relations with underage girls, revealed in a Tuesday op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that Epstein “never created a ‘client list.’”
There was, however, more to the story.
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“The FBI interviewed alleged victims who named several ‘clients.’ These names have been redacted,” he wrote. “They should be disclosed but the courts have ordered them sealed. I know who they are. They don’t include any current officeholders. We don’t know whether the accusations are true.”
Dershowitz, who has represented big names like O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, and Trump himself during his first impeachment trial, sought to distance the president from the disgraced financier.
“Open records show an acquaintance between Epstein and Mr. Trump many years ago,” he said, adding that the relationship ended when Trump reportedly banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. “I have seen nothing that would suggest anything improper or even questionable by Mr. Trump.”
But Trump and Epstein have described their relationship as more than just an acquaintance.
In tapes exclusively obtained by the Daily Beast last year, Epstein said: “I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years.” In 2002, Trump similarly told New York Magazine: “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Dershowitz also argued that it was “clear from the evidence that Epstein committed suicide.” The convicted sex offender was found hanged in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on Aug. 10, 2019.
“What isn’t clear is whether he was assisted by jail personnel,” Dershowitz said. “That seems likely to me, based on the evidence of allegedly broken cameras, transfer of his cellmate and the absence of guards during relevant time periods.”
Last week, the Justice Department released nearly 11 hours of CCTV footage from the jail on the day of Epstein’s death. An analysis by Wired citing video forensics experts, however, concluded that the footage was likely modified, further fueling conspiracy theories that he was murdered.
Dershowitz denied another theory floated by conservative host Tucker Carlson that Epstein had ties to the Israeli government.
“I have absolutely no doubt that Epstein never worked for any intelligence agency,” he said, citing confirmation from his sources in Israel. “If he had, he would surely have told me and his other lawyers, who would have used that information to get him a better deal.”
“There is nothing more annoying to gossip mongers than when stubborn facts (or the absence of facts) get in the way of a juicy theory,” Dershowitz concluded. “Sorry to disappoint you, but there is really nothing much to see here, beyond what has already been disclosed.”
MAGAworld erupted in uproar after the Justice Department and the FBI announced in a bombshell memo earlier this month that there is no client list and Epstein indeed died by suicide, letting down the Trump faithful who hung on to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s comments in February that the Epstein files were “sitting” on her desk.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said Bondi briefed him on the Epstein files but kept it vague when asked if he was named in them.
“No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they’ve seen,” he told reporters. “But she’s handling it very well and whatever she thinks is credible she’s going to release it.”
In 2008, Dershowitz helped Epstein secure a sweetheart plea deal that allowed him to serve only 13 months in jail while working during the day.
Though Dershowitz has repeatedly denied a close relationship with his notorious client, he has publicly spoken about once getting a massage from a middle-aged woman at Epstein’s house.
“I kept my underwear on during the massage. I don’t like massages, particularly,” he said in a 2019 interview with Florida-based station WPLG. “Were there young women in another part of the house giving massages when I wasn’t around? I have no idea of that.”
Dershowitz told Axios in 2018 that Epstein had called him several times about legal issues: “But I haven’t had any social, or any other kind of contact... You never stop being a person’s lawyer.”
In July 2019, the month of Epstein’s arrest, the attorney told NPR that they no longer had any type of relationship.
“I haven’t seen him in years and I haven’t spoken to him in months,” he said. “Occasionally, his lawyers—his current lawyers—will call to ask me questions about the plea deal. But I have no current legal relationship with him or personal relationship."
