{"id":160968,"date":"2026-08-19T11:42:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/19\/alan-dershowitz-continues-to-fight-marthas-vineyard-mccarthyites-in-his-own-mind\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:42:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:42:40","slug":"alan-dershowitz-continues-to-fight-marthas-vineyard-mccarthyites-in-his-own-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/19\/alan-dershowitz-continues-to-fight-marthas-vineyard-mccarthyites-in-his-own-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Dershowitz Continues To Fight Martha\u2019s Vineyard McCarthyites In His Own Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years now, Alan Dershowitz has invited us all to pull up a rocking chair and marvel at the recurring soap opera of his own persecution. He complains about his neighbors hating him<\/a>, the library<\/a>, the pierogi stand<\/a>\u2026 everyone is out to get him and it\u2019s always their fault. For a guy still in a mostly one-way feud with Larry David, it\u2019s ironic that Dershowitz spends his vacations in a summer stock presentation of unfunny Curb<\/em>, where everyone is mad at him and he\u2019s his own worst enemy. Most of all, self-reflection is never, never in the cards.<\/p>\n

This year, we\u2019ve finally had some peace and quiet! Against all odds, Dershowitz has fallen silent about his resort town travails, allowing us to all go happily about our lives without this manufactured drama. <\/p>\n

So The Atlantic<\/em> decided to go stir some up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The magazine dispatched Mark Leibovich to the porch of the Chilmark General Store to eat pizza and listen to Dershowitz recount the woes of an overexposed law professor trapped in his personal pity party. Along the way, the pair chatted about the Larry David fight, unverified tales of harassment, and Jeffrey Epstein. A whole lot of Jeffrey Epstein. The flights, the massage, the island trip.<\/p>\n

Funny\u2026 the House Oversight Committee has been trying to have this exact conversation for months<\/a>. That\u2019s when Dershowitz \u2014 who is canceled and silenced<\/a>, don\u2019t you know? \u2014 appeared on NewsNation to declare that he remains \u201cvery proud\u201d of his role representing Epstein and is \u201cprepared to testify about everything,\u201d adding, \u201cI will personally not invoke privilege. I have nothing to hide.\u201d As soon as Congress took him up on that offer, Dershowitz balked. <\/p>\n

Maybe instead of irate letters, Rep. James Comer should come up for a slice at the General Store<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I would see McCarthyism come to Martha\u2019s Vineyard,\u201d Dershowitz wrote in The Hill<\/em> in 2018, comparing the federal government destroying people\u2019s careers and Roy Cohn sending the Rosenbergs to the electric chair to a neighbor not selling him a fucking pierogi. At least we know that guy didn\u2019t sell Dershowitz a pierogi. The professor\u2019s other claims don\u2019t hold up as well to scrutiny. The book festival that supposedly blackballed his work says his claim is \u201ccompletely false.\u201d The restaurateur everyone\u2019s supposedly pressuring to ban him refused to comment on it. Epstein victim lawyer Chuck Cooper is described as having privately told the professor that he knew Dershowitz could never have done anything \u2014 \u201cThis event that he\u2019s reporting and this comment that he\u2019s attributing to me are both categorically untrue,\u201d Cooper told Leibovich.<\/p>\n

Dershowitz claims a lot of the backlash is over his support for the Israeli government, though the article notes the ostracism he complains about predates the global attention on Gaza. Most of the disdain centers on Dershowitz\u2019s work for two clients in particular: Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

It was his work for Trump that got Larry David yelling at him<\/a>. It was his Epstein work that motivated an unknown heckler to allegedly mock him outside the Chilmark store. Dershowitz\u2019s \u201cstock explanation was that everyone is entitled to legal representation,\u201d the article notes. That\u2019s why he represented Trump and Epstein and O.J. and Claus von B\u00fclow. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s like Gideon<\/em>, but for the 1 percent.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the problem with the \u201ceveryone is entitled to a lawyer\u201d excuse. It may be true, but everyone isn\u2019t entitled to you<\/em> as a lawyer. And when the clients at issue have millions and millions in the bank, choosing to represent them isn\u2019t a noble sacrifice for the sanctity of the profession, it\u2019s a business decision. Stow the moralizing over any representation that involves the client giving you private jets to attend meetings.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Dershowitz\u2019s work for Trump and Epstein sound in a different register than a run-of-the-mill representation. He\u2019s recast himself as token disaffected Democrat, a stock character in the Kabuki theater of right-wing media, trotted out to repeat Republican talking points ensconced in the authority of having at some point been a \u201clifelong Democrat.\u201d Dershowitz also hasn\u2019t spent years jumping in front of microphones to wax philosophic about O.J.\u2019s innocence, but he does declare to the press that the non-prosecution deal he helped secure for Epstein should have been more<\/em> lenient<\/a>. The \u201ceveryone is entitled to a lawyer\u201d act lands much better when coupled with critical distance. <\/p>\n

Zealous advocacy has a terminal point when the case ends. Dershowitz has used these representations to push his personal brand as a lapsed Democrat to hawk books like \u201cWhy I Quit the Dems: And So Should You!\u201d and provide intellectual cover for op-eds like \u201cStatutory Rape Is an Outdated Concept<\/a>.\u201d His trick is to bootstrap his personal advocacy to his legal work so he can reject any criticism with a sanctimonious lecture on the right to counsel.<\/p>\n

The people of Martha\u2019s Vineyard just got tired of it.<\/p>\n

But, the article reports, part of the reason we\u2019re not hearing as much about Dershowitz\u2019s exile is that he\u2019s making new friends! He spent a recent evening at a Chabad function hosted by Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire you might remember for flying Sam Alito to Alaska on a private jet<\/a> to go fishing as his legal interests headed toward the Supreme Court. The justice did not recuse himself in that case. Alito, for his part, said he barely knows Singer \u2014 a claim complicated by an Above the Law report way back in 2009 where Alito\u2019s \u201cpersonal friend\u201d Singer introduced the justice at a Federalist Society event.<\/p>\n

Alas, the long national nightmare of Dershowitz\u2019s Martha\u2019s Vineyard complaints might finally be behind us. At least until another magazine decides to buy him a slice.<\/p>\n

Alan Dershowitz Won\u2019t Forget What Larry David Did to Him<\/a> [The Atlantic]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Alan Dershowitz Suing Pierogi Stand For Aggravated \u2018No One Likes Me On Martha\u2019s Vineyard\u2019<\/a>
Getting To The Delicious Center Of Alan Dershowitz And PierogiGate<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Blasted By Larry David At Martha\u2019s Vineyard Grocery Store<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Is The Saddest Man In Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>
Summer Officially Begins As Alan Dershowitz Publicly Complains About No One Liking Him On Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Is So SILENCED That He\u2019s Got A New Book, A New Yorker Interview, Constant Cable News Appearances\u2026<\/a>
Remember When Alan Dershowitz Begged To Testify About Epstein? Well, Now He\u2019s Not Showing Up<\/a>
Comer Throws Alan Dershowitz\u2019s \u2018Nothing To Hide\u2019 Boast Back At Him With Subpoena Threat<\/a>
Sam Alito Laments It\u2019s Getting So You Can\u2019t Take All-Expense Paid Luxury Vacations Funded By Billionaires Anymore<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Alan Dershowitz Continues To Fight Martha\u2019s Vineyard McCarthyites In His Own Mind<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For years now, Alan Dershowitz has invited us all to pull up a rocking chair and marvel at the recurring soap opera of his own persecution. He complains about his neighbors hating him<\/a>, the library<\/a>, the pierogi stand<\/a>\u2026 everyone is out to get him and it\u2019s always their fault. For a guy still in a mostly one-way feud with Larry David, it\u2019s ironic that Dershowitz spends his vacations in a summer stock presentation of unfunny Curb<\/em>, where everyone is mad at him and he\u2019s his own worst enemy. Most of all, self-reflection is never, never in the cards.<\/p>\n

This year, we\u2019ve finally had some peace and quiet! Against all odds, Dershowitz has fallen silent about his resort town travails, allowing us to all go happily about our lives without this manufactured drama. <\/p>\n

So The Atlantic<\/em> decided to go stir some up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The magazine dispatched Mark Leibovich to the porch of the Chilmark General Store to eat pizza and listen to Dershowitz recount the woes of an overexposed law professor trapped in his personal pity party. Along the way, the pair chatted about the Larry David fight, unverified tales of harassment, and Jeffrey Epstein. A whole lot of Jeffrey Epstein. The flights, the massage, the island trip.<\/p>\n

Funny\u2026 the House Oversight Committee has been trying to have this exact conversation for months<\/a>. That\u2019s when Dershowitz \u2014 who is canceled and silenced<\/a>, don\u2019t you know? \u2014 appeared on NewsNation to declare that he remains \u201cvery proud\u201d of his role representing Epstein and is \u201cprepared to testify about everything,\u201d adding, \u201cI will personally not invoke privilege. I have nothing to hide.\u201d As soon as Congress took him up on that offer, Dershowitz balked. <\/p>\n

Maybe instead of irate letters, Rep. James Comer should come up for a slice at the General Store<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I would see McCarthyism come to Martha\u2019s Vineyard,\u201d Dershowitz wrote in The Hill<\/em> in 2018, comparing the federal government destroying people\u2019s careers and Roy Cohn sending the Rosenbergs to the electric chair to a neighbor not selling him a fucking pierogi. At least we know that guy didn\u2019t sell Dershowitz a pierogi. The professor\u2019s other claims don\u2019t hold up as well to scrutiny. The book festival that supposedly blackballed his work says his claim is \u201ccompletely false.\u201d The restaurateur everyone\u2019s supposedly pressuring to ban him refused to comment on it. Epstein victim lawyer Chuck Cooper is described as having privately told the professor that he knew Dershowitz could never have done anything \u2014 \u201cThis event that he\u2019s reporting and this comment that he\u2019s attributing to me are both categorically untrue,\u201d Cooper told Leibovich.<\/p>\n

Dershowitz claims a lot of the backlash is over his support for the Israeli government, though the article notes the ostracism he complains about predates the global attention on Gaza. Most of the disdain centers on Dershowitz\u2019s work for two clients in particular: Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

It was his work for Trump that got Larry David yelling at him<\/a>. It was his Epstein work that motivated an unknown heckler to allegedly mock him outside the Chilmark store. Dershowitz\u2019s \u201cstock explanation was that everyone is entitled to legal representation,\u201d the article notes. That\u2019s why he represented Trump and Epstein and O.J. and Claus von B\u00fclow. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s like Gideon<\/em>, but for the 1 percent.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the problem with the \u201ceveryone is entitled to a lawyer\u201d excuse. It may be true, but everyone isn\u2019t entitled to you<\/em> as a lawyer. And when the clients at issue have millions and millions in the bank, choosing to represent them isn\u2019t a noble sacrifice for the sanctity of the profession, it\u2019s a business decision. Stow the moralizing over any representation that involves the client giving you private jets to attend meetings.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Dershowitz\u2019s work for Trump and Epstein sound in a different register than a run-of-the-mill representation. He\u2019s recast himself as token disaffected Democrat, a stock character in the Kabuki theater of right-wing media, trotted out to repeat Republican talking points ensconced in the authority of having at some point been a \u201clifelong Democrat.\u201d Dershowitz also hasn\u2019t spent years jumping in front of microphones to wax philosophic about O.J.\u2019s innocence, but he does declare to the press that the non-prosecution deal he helped secure for Epstein should have been more<\/em> lenient<\/a>. The \u201ceveryone is entitled to a lawyer\u201d act lands much better when coupled with critical distance. <\/p>\n

Zealous advocacy has a terminal point when the case ends. Dershowitz has used these representations to push his personal brand as a lapsed Democrat to hawk books like \u201cWhy I Quit the Dems: And So Should You!\u201d and provide intellectual cover for op-eds like \u201cStatutory Rape Is an Outdated Concept<\/a>.\u201d His trick is to bootstrap his personal advocacy to his legal work so he can reject any criticism with a sanctimonious lecture on the right to counsel.<\/p>\n

The people of Martha\u2019s Vineyard just got tired of it.<\/p>\n

But, the article reports, part of the reason we\u2019re not hearing as much about Dershowitz\u2019s exile is that he\u2019s making new friends! He spent a recent evening at a Chabad function hosted by Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire you might remember for flying Sam Alito to Alaska on a private jet<\/a> to go fishing as his legal interests headed toward the Supreme Court. The justice did not recuse himself in that case. Alito, for his part, said he barely knows Singer \u2014 a claim complicated by an Above the Law report way back in 2009 where Alito\u2019s \u201cpersonal friend\u201d Singer introduced the justice at a Federalist Society event.<\/p>\n

Alas, the long national nightmare of Dershowitz\u2019s Martha\u2019s Vineyard complaints might finally be behind us. At least until another magazine decides to buy him a slice.<\/p>\n

Alan Dershowitz Won\u2019t Forget What Larry David Did to Him<\/a> [The Atlantic]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Alan Dershowitz Suing Pierogi Stand For Aggravated \u2018No One Likes Me On Martha\u2019s Vineyard\u2019<\/a>
Getting To The Delicious Center Of Alan Dershowitz And PierogiGate<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Blasted By Larry David At Martha\u2019s Vineyard Grocery Store<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Is The Saddest Man In Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>
Summer Officially Begins As Alan Dershowitz Publicly Complains About No One Liking Him On Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>
Alan Dershowitz Is So SILENCED That He\u2019s Got A New Book, A New Yorker Interview, Constant Cable News Appearances\u2026<\/a>
Remember When Alan Dershowitz Begged To Testify About Epstein? Well, Now He\u2019s Not Showing Up<\/a>
Comer Throws Alan Dershowitz\u2019s \u2018Nothing To Hide\u2019 Boast Back At Him With Subpoena Threat<\/a>
Sam Alito Laments It\u2019s Getting So You Can\u2019t Take All-Expense Paid Luxury Vacations Funded By Billionaires Anymore<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Alan Dershowitz Continues To Fight Martha\u2019s Vineyard McCarthyites In His Own Mind<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years now, Alan Dershowitz has invited us all to pull up a rocking chair and marvel at the recurring soap opera of his own persecution. He complains about his neighbors hating him, the library, the pierogi stand\u2026 everyone is out to get him and it\u2019s always their fault. For a guy still in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":160946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Headshot-300x200-RflOuC.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}