By Euronews with AP
Published on
Kathy Ruemmler, the top lawyer at investment bank Goldman Sachs and a former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, announced her resignation on Thursday.
This came after a series of emails were released by the US Department of Justice, revealing her close relationship to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Ruemmler described Epstein as an “older brother” and an uncle, while also downplaying his sex crimes.
Ruemmler said in a statement that she would step down as chief legal officer and general counsel of Goldman Sachs on 30 June 2026.
Up until her resignation, Ruemmler repeatedly tried to distance herself from the emails and other correspondence and had been defiant that she would not resign from Goldman’s top legal post, which she had held since 2020.
While Ruemmler has called Epstein a “monster” in recent statements, she had a vastly different relationship with Epstein before he was arrested a second time for sex crimes in 2019 and later killed himself in a Manhattan jail.
Ruemmler previously said she adored Epstein, although in a statement before her resignation, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Ruemmler “regrets ever knowing him”.
In her statement on Thursday, Ruemmler said: “Since I joined Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to help oversee the firm’s legal, reputational, and regulatory matters; to enhance our strong risk management processes; and to ensure that we live by our core value of integrity in everything we do. My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first.”
Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a separate statement: “As one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy has also been a mentor and friend to many of our people, and she will be missed. I accepted her resignation, and I respect her decision.”
During her time in private practice after she left the White House in 2014, Ruemmler received several expensive gifts from Epstein, including luxury handbags and a fur coat. The gifts were given after Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes in 2008 and was registered as a sex offender.
“So lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler wrote to Epstein in 2018.
Historically, Wall Street frowns on gift-giving between clients and bankers or Wall Street lawyers, particularly high-end gifts that could pose a conflict of interest. Goldman Sachs requires its employees to get preapproval before receiving or giving gifts from clients, according to the company’s code of conduct, partly in order to not run afoul of anti-bribery laws.
As late as December, Goldman CEO David Solomon described Ruemmler as an “excellent lawyer” and said she had his full faith and backing.