Jeffrey Epstein’s former lawyer and friend Alan Dershowitz defended associates of the late billionaire sex offender, whose names will soon be released as part of a court ruling, saying: “None of us knew about his private life that he kept in secret. secret”.
The former Harvard Law School professor said in an interview with NewsNation’s Leland Vitters on Tuesday that no one should be automatically convicted in the court of public opinion simply for appearing on Epstein’s list.
“They can be judged for having shown bad judgment, but it cannot be concluded that the accusations against them are true without hearing the evidence,” the jurist argued.
More than 150 people linked to the disgraced financier, formerly known only as “John Does” and “Jane Does,” are expected to be unmasked for the first time in court records that a federal judge had ordered unsealed last month.
“There are some people who may be embarrassed by the fact that they were with Epstein, but remember, a lot of people were with Epstein before he was convicted,” Dershowitz said.
Alan Dershowitz defended associates of Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the release of documents related to his sex trafficking ring. Getty Images Dershowitz (right) was Epstein’s former lawyer and appeared several times in the flight logs of the financier’s “Lolita Express” jet. Corbis via Getty Images
The 85-year-old lawyer suggested that the judge who ordered the release of the names was “selective” in what he agreed to make public, which he said was “unfair.”
“I want everything to come to light, every document, every piece of paper, half-truths or lies,” Dershowtiz told Vitters. “And I wanted them out for personal reasons because I know they would prove what I said from day one that I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Dershowitz noted that Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring who previously accused the lawyer of sexually abusing her two decades ago, agreed in November to drop a defamation lawsuit against him after admitting that she “may have having made a mistake.” when she named him as one of the men she was forced to have sex with.
Epstein committed suicide in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. AP
“And the woman who accused me later admitted that she may have misidentified me, confused me with someone else, so I wanted everything to be known from the beginning because I have nothing to hide,” Dershowitz said.
But the former professor said he understands why some people would not want their names linked to Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 in federal prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
“Any association with Jeffrey Epstein is very, very negative,” Dershowitz said. “Anyone who met Epstein, whether before or after, says, ‘Oh my God, you met Epstein, you must have done something wrong.’ That doesn’t necessarily follow.”
Dershowitz said Virginia Giuffre, who previously accused him of sexual misconduct, later dropped her accusations against him. TNS
Dershowitz appeared several times in the flight logs of Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express” plane, along with former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, and former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine).
The records were released in 2021 during the high-profile trial of Epstein’s girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn