Former Harvard Law school professor and prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz said on TODAY Monday that he has never met the woman who claims in a civil lawsuit that she was forced to have sex with him and others when she was 17 years old.
"I've never seen her, I've never met her, I don't know who she is,'' Dershowitz told Matt Lauer.
The woman, identified as "Jane Doe Number 3" in court papers, alleges in a motion filed by attorneys Bradley J. Edwards and former federal judge Paul G. Cassell that New York financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have underage sex with Dershowitz and Britain's Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace issued a statement denying the claims, and Dershowitz vehemently denied them Monday, calling them "totally false and made up."
In a statement to TODAY, a lawyer for Mr. Epstein hit back at the claims: "These are stale, rehashed allegations that lawyers are now attempting to repackage and spice up by adding the names of prominent people. The allegations, which are outlandish on their face and discredited by the evidence, were made in a civil case in which Mr. Epstein is not a party."
More from Dershowitz:
- On his plans to file disbarment proceedings against the woman's lawyers: "These lawyers engaged in unethical behavior and should be disbarred,'' he said. "It's the legal equivalent of scribbling something on a toilet stall and then running away. They didn't think there would be any response, and they will rue the day that they filed this unethical complaint because they, I believe, will be disbarred."
- On the allegations in the complaint: "I welcome a full investigation. I'm not trying to silence her. I've challenged her to repeat the statement to the press so that I can sue for defamation. I have challenged her to file rape criminal charges against me because if she does, she exposes herself to criminal prosecution."