Legendary attorney Alan Dershowitz has volunteered to sue liberal comedian Rosie O’Donnell over her false claims that President Donald Trump paid Jeffrey Epstein $1 billion during their friendship.
O’Donnell made the debunked claim Friday on “The Jim Acosta Show,” prompting Dershowitz to offer his legal services pro bono during a Sunday appearance on Newsmax’s “Sunday Agenda.”
“There was malice there. And I would be happy to help sue Rosie O’Donnell. She is a despicable liar and defamer of people. And she shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it,” Dershowitz told host Lidia Curanaj. “She’s now moved out of the country. She hates America. She hates American politicians. And she ought to be sued.”
The left-leaning fact-check website Snopes rated O’Donnell’s billion-dollar claim as false in July. Dershowitz, who served as Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney at one point, said he has direct knowledge that contradicts O’Donnell’s accusations.
“He didn’t pay $1 billion to Jeffrey Epstein. I was Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer. I know about the relationship between Trump and Epstein. It ended early on in time. I’ve seen many of the records,” Dershowitz explained. “There’s nothing to inculpate Trump in any way.”
During her podcast appearance, O’Donnell launched into an extended attack on Trump, claiming that he had made massive payments to the convicted sex trafficker.
“We do know why. We all know why. He paid a billion dollars to Jeffrey Epstein over the time of their friendship. A billion dollars. He wrote in his birthday book, ‘Here’s to all the secrets.’ If this were an Angela Lansbury Murder She Wrote, people would be, ‘It’s too obvious,'” O’Donnell said on Acosta’s show.
“He is guilty as sin. Before he brings more troops into Chicago and harasses more brown-skin people; before he breaks more of the Constitution apart; before he starts having people get killed, we have to do something about him, America. It’s time for every person with a platform to speak out about it. Now or never.”
O’Donnell concluded her rant by calling Trump a “serial pedophile rapist.”
“Wake up. Wake up! Our president is a serial pedophile rapist. And that’s what he is!” she said.
Dershowitz said that O’Donnell’s statements clearly meet the legal standard for defamation.
“Rosie O’Donnell is not above the law and the president is not below the law,” he said. “He has the right to sue for defamation if he can demonstrate malice. And I think the malice in this case is very clear.”
“And she just is lying through her teeth because she hates Donald Trump. So she’s willing to make up stories,” Dershowitz continued. “That’s not what the First Amendment was designed to protect. It was not designed to protect people who make up false stories.”
When asked how much money he would seek in damages, Dershowitz did not hesitate.
“Everything she’s worth. I don’t know what she’s worth now, but certainly several hundred million dollars. The president’s reputation is at stake,” he said. “I hope she is sued. And I volunteer pro bono to help out anybody who wants to sue Rosie O’Donnell on behalf of the president.”
The Washington Post reported in July that while “Trump and Epstein had a relationship” for a brief period of time, there is “no evidence of Trump wrongdoing.” Trump and Epstein later had a falling out, and Epstein was banned from Mar-a-Largo for decades.
Trump has already demonstrated his willingness to pursue defamation cases against media outlets making false claims. In December, ABC News paid $15 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit after “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed Trump was found liable of rape.
The president responded to O’Donnell’s latest attacks Wednesday on Truth Social, writing that his administration was considering revoking her U.S. citizenship. Trump said O’Donnell “is not a Great American” and that he believed she was “incapable of being” one.