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Fact check: How did Alan Dershowitz publicly respond to Virginia Giuffre's allegations in 2019?
Executive Summary
Alan Dershowitz publicly and vigorously denied Virginia Giuffre’s 2019 allegations, calling her a liar, accusing her of perjury and of conspiring with lawyers to extort wealthy individuals, and he filed a federal defamation counterclaim asserting those denials [1] [2]. Court records from 2019 reflect both denials and litigation activity — including a denied motion to dismiss and a ruling disqualifying Giuffre’s counsel for a conflict — and later developments show Giuffre dropped claims and the parties reached a settlement in 2022 [3] [4].
1. How Dershowitz Denied the Allegations—Plain and Forceful Rebuttals
In 2019 Alan Dershowitz publicly denied Virginia Giuffre’s accusation that he had sex with her when she was a minor, labeling her allegations as a deliberate falsehood and accusing her of committing perjury. Court filings and public statements from that year quote him calling Giuffre a “liar” and an “extortionist,” asserting she fabricated the story after consulting with lawyers allegedly seeking to extract settlements from powerful people. Dershowitz pursued legal action by filing a federal defamation counterclaim against Giuffre, framing his response as an effort to protect his reputation and to assert that her allegations were knowingly false and malicious [1] [2] [5].
2. Litigation Milestones That Shaped the Public Record
The litigation produced concrete judicial findings and procedural rulings that shaped the public understanding of the dispute: in October 2019 a federal court denied Dershowitz’s motion to dismiss Giuffre’s defamation suit, finding her pleadings sufficient to overcome his qualified privilege defense, while simultaneously granting Dershowitz’s motion to disqualify Boies Schiller Flexner LLP for conflict-of-interest reasons. Those orders documented both parties’ allegations and defenses on the public docket and underscored that the legal fight was contested on multiple fronts — credibility claims, procedural objections, and tactical filings that influenced how the accusations were litigated and reported [3].
3. Public Messaging vs. Courtroom Posture—Consistent Themes
Across public essays, interviews, and court briefs in 2019 Dershowitz maintained a consistent strategy: forceful public denials paired with litigation to challenge Giuffre’s credibility. He wrote and spoke publicly characterizing Giuffre as a “certified, complete, total liar” who had fabricated allegations for financial or strategic reasons, and he alleged that her lawyers believed or encouraged a false story to maximize leverage. The dual track of media-facing rhetoric and formal counterclaims emphasized credibility attacks and painted the dispute as both reputational defense and an assertion of malicious intent on Giuffre’s part [6] [1].
4. Later Developments: Giuffre’s Withdrawal and a Settlement That Closed the Chapter
The public record shifted later: in 2022 Virginia Giuffre withdrew her accusations against Dershowitz, stated she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him, and the parties announced a settlement with no money changing hands and dismissal of claims. Media reports and filings from late 2022 and filings noted both the settlement and mutual statements that effectively ended active litigation between them. These developments altered the legal posture and removed pending claims, but they did not retroactively change the earlier public denials and the court rulings that recorded contested factual claims in 2019 [4].
5. What the Record Leaves Open and Why Different Narratives Persist
The combination of emphatic denials, judicial procedural rulings, later withdrawals, and a settlement produces competing narratives: Dershowitz’s 2019 public response presented an unequivocal denial and allegations of perjury and extortion; Giuffre’s later retraction and settlement created a different public outcome without monetary payment. The court docket from 2019 preserved contested assertions and procedural findings but did not render a definitive judicial adjudication of the underlying factual sexual-assault claim; the subsequent settlement resolved civil claims without trial, leaving unresolved questions that fuel differing interpretations and media narratives [3] [4].
6. Sources, Dates, and How to Read the Timeline
Primary public sources and court documents from 2019 record Dershowitz’s explicit denials and counterclaims and the court’s procedural rulings denying dismissal and disqualifying Giuffre’s counsel; later sources from 2022 report Giuffre’s withdrawal and the settlement that dismissed claims without payment. For a clear chronology: the vigorous denials and counterclaims were concentrated in 2019 filings and statements [1] [2] [5], the court issued key procedural rulings in October 2019 [3], and the parties announced a settlement and Giuffre’s disavowal of the identification in 2022 [4]. Each document records distinct legal and factual claims that together form the public record.