Former Obama official Kathryn Ruemmler resigns from Goldman Sachs over Epstein hyperlinks
The former White House counsel under President Obama has resigned from Goldman Sachs over her ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Kathryn Ruemmler, who works as general counsel at Goldman, said she will resign this summer after emails released by the Justice Department revealed her conversations with Epstein, according to The Financial Times.
‘I made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defense attorney, was becoming a distraction,’ Ruemmler told the publication.
She will exit the firm on June 30.
Ruemmler rose to the top ranks at Wall Street and became a key adviser to Solomon following a storied legal career, which included serving as White House counsel to former President Barack Obama, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Executives at the firm had previously claimed that Ruemmler had a strictly professional relationship with the financier, as she argued she never represented Epstein or advocated for him – though he would occasionally ask for her advice.
She has said she regretted ever knowing Epstein and had no knowledge of any new or ongoing illegal activity.
‘I made decisions based on the information that was available to me,’ she told the Financial Times. ‘I have an enormous amount of sympathy and heartache for anyone he hurt.’
But the latest release of Epstein files shows Ruemmler hailing ‘wonderful Jeffrey’ in emails dated December 25 and 26, 2015, six years after he served 13 months in prison prostituting an underage girl.
Kathryn Ruemmler, who works as general counsel at Goldman, said she will resign this summer
She previously served as White House counsel to former President Barack Obama. She is pictured left with then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Joe Biden, Obama, Director of OMB Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy Chief of Staff in 2013
She was even in the courtroom when Epstein was arraigned on sex trafficking charges in 2019, and he once even listed her as a backup executor of his will.
Their relationship apparently began around the time Ruemmler left the Obama administration in 2014.
In one correspondence dated September 19, 2014, Epstein told her, ‘You need to talk to boss.’
Ruemmler, who had left the Obama White House about three months earlier, according to her LinkedIn page, replied: ‘Agreed, but I need to be prepared to say yes before I talk to him.’
‘Understood,’ Epstein said. ‘It comes down to high risk / reward / low risk / reward. professional, emotional. and fiinancial [sic].’
She responded that ‘most girls do not have to worry about this crap.’
Epstein shot back: ‘Girls? Careful i will renew an old habit.’
He then listed a group of people he was apparently set to meet with ‘this week,’ including Peter Thiel, Larry Summers, Bill Burns, former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Leon Black and ‘Woody.’
‘Also if you think there are interesting people in town, everyone here for climate summit, clinton ,security council,’ Epstein added.
Ruemmler rose to the top ranks at Wall Street and became a key adviser to Goldman Sachs CEO David M Solomon following a storied legal career
Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein apparently began around the time she left the Obama administration in 2014
Messages from February 2017 also showed Ruemmler disparaging President Donald Trump, calling him ‘so gross.’
‘Worse in real life and upclose,’ he said.
In other correspondence, Ruemmler referenced Epstein’s ‘Russians’ in an email about a potential job offer before she joined Goldman and in a separate exchange, Ruemmler forwarded the financier emails about an affair she had with one of his close associates.
Meanwhile, Epstein showered her with gifts, including a Hermes bag, Apple products, spa appointments, haircuts and plane tickets.
‘Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today!’ she wrote in one email in January 2019. ‘Jeffrey boots, handbag and watch.’
In total, Ruemmler’s name is featured hundreds of times in a log of emails between Epstein and his lawyers, which runs to more than 500 pages.
The documents triggered growing frustrations at Goldman Sachs, with some board members privately expressing their concerns that Solomon’s backing of Ruemmler could damage the bank’s reputation, the Financial Times reports.
‘It’s a distraction and it’s embarrassing,’ said one person close to a board member prior to Ruemmler’s resignation. ‘It’s not the board’s job to hire and fire people. That’s the CEO’s role.’
In a statement, CEO David M Solomon said he accepted her resignation ‘and I respect her decision.’
‘Throughout her tenure, Kathy has been an extraordinary general counsel, and we are grateful for her contributions and sound advice on a wide range of consequential legal matters for the firm,’ he said.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
