Dershowitz files defamation suit against Boies, alleging extortion

Attorney Alan Dershowitz filed a defamation countersuit against fellow lawyer David Boies, claiming Boies, his law firm and Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre attempted to extort money from rich and powerful men for private settlements.

The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and extortion.

It names billionaire Leslie Wexner as one of the alleged extortion targets.

This lawsuit comes in response to Boies’s suit against Dershowitz that was filed in November and accused the attorney of disparaging Boies’s law firm, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, by calling it “the law firm of extortion, subornation of perjury and other crimes” in a Washington Post interview, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Dershowitz alleges in the countersuit that Boies’s firm said it would reveal allegations against Wexner, the CEO of Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, if the company didn’t provide a settlement. Epstein was Wexner’s money manager. Wexner declined to comment to the Journal, reiterating that he wasn’t aware of Epstein’s criminal behavior.

Dershowitz’s suit also follows from Giuffre’s allegations that he assaulted her as a teenager when Epstein recruited her for his sex trafficking scheme. The attorney, who argued against President Trump’s removal in the Senate, has denied those accusations, calling Giuffre a “certified, complete, total liar.”

Guiffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz in April because of these comments. Boies represented her for the case until a judge ruled he and his partners needed to be taken off the case due to their expected testimony, according to the Journal. 

Dershowitz told The Hill that he is looking forward to putting Boise on trial “for the role he played in the false accusation against me.”

“I’m also looking forward to putting his entire history of questionable legal ethics on trial and his pattern of practicing law,” he said.

“He said on tape that he knew his client was ‘wrong … simply wrong’ in accusing me, and yet even after saying that, he submitted false affidavits from her,” he added.

Boies did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August after being held on sex crimes charges. New York City officials ruled his death a suicide. Dershowitz helped Epstein obtain an 18-month sentence in 2008.