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Goldman Sachs top lawyer resigns after emails show Jeffrey Epstein friendship
Kathyrn Ruemmler, who resigned as Goldman Sachs’s general counsel, was also a partner and vice chair of its reputational risk committee and a former White House counsel under President Obama. (Goldman Sachs photo)
Kathryn Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’s general counsel, resigned on Thursday in the wake of the Justice Department’s release of emails and other material depicting her long friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ruemmler maintained for years that she had a strictly professional relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender. But emails, text messages and photographs released in January show instead years of friendship. Ruemmler was mentioned in more than 10,000 of the documents released by the Justice Department, according to a report by the New York Times.
“My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’s interests first,” Ruemmler said in a statement confirming the resignation.
Goldman’s chief executive, David M. Solomon, said he respected her decision, describing her as “a mentor and friend to many of our people,” according to the New York Times.
Before joining Goldman in 2020, Ruemmler advised Epstein on how to respond to tough questions about his sex crimes and avoid negative press, along with discussing her own dating life. She addressed Epstein as “sweetie” and “Uncle Jeffrey.” Epstein provided career advice on her move to Goldman and introduced her to well-known businesspeople. He also showered her with gifts of spa treatments, trips and Hermes luxury items, according to the New York Times.
Ruemmler not only served at Goldman as general counsel, she was also a partner and vice chair of its reputational risk committee. She was White House counsel under President Obama and a white-collar defense lawyer at Latham & Watkins, according to the New York Times.
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