Top lawyer at Goldman Sachs resigns after revelation of Epstein relationship | Jeffrey Epstein

Kathy Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ senior lawyer and former White House counsel to Barack Obama, announced her resignation following emails showing a close relationship between her and Jeffrey Epstein, whom she called “Uncle Jeffrey.”

Ruemmler said in a statement Thursday that she will “step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs effective June 30, 2026.”

Until her resignation, Ruemmler repeatedly attempted to distance herself from emails and other correspondence and was defiant about whether she would resign from Goldman’s top legal position, which she had held since 2020.

While Ruemmler has called Epstein a “monster” in recent statements, she had a very different relationship with him before he was arrested a second time for sex crimes in 2019 and later committed suicide in a Manhattan jail; Ruemmler called Epstein “Uncle Jeffrey” in her emails and said she adored him.

In a statement before his resignation, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Ruemmler “regrets having known him.”

During his private practice after leaving 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 was previously convicted of sex crimes in 2008 and registered as a sex offender.

“So charming and thoughtful! Thanks to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler wrote to Epstein in 2018.

Historically, Wall Street frowns on gifts between clients and Wall Street bankers or lawyers, especially high-end gifts that could pose a conflict of interest. Goldman Sachs requires its employees to obtain prior approval before receiving or giving gifts from clients, in accordance with the company’s code of conduct, in part so as not to violate anti-corruption laws.

Ruemmler was a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, among the Wall Street firm’s top executives. Last December, Goldman CEO David Solomon described Ruemmler as an “excellent lawyer” and said she had his full trust and support.

In a statement released Thursday, Solomon said, “As one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy was also a mentor and friend to many of our staff, and she will be missed. I have accepted her resignation and respect her decision.”

Epstein also called Ruemmler’s cellphone during his arrest on July 6, 2019, among other calls he made that night, according to two documents citing law enforcement notes.

A separate memo from the Federal Bureau of Investigation quotes Epstein saying the same day: “Is this about sex trafficking. Is this about minors.”

The author of the FBI document, who was not named, said Epstein also made statements such as: “Oh, it’s bad, it’s pretty bad.” »

Ruemmler had a large number of communications with Epstein from 2014 to 2019, even after the disgraced financier’s guilty plea in 2008 to recruiting a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, according to the documents.

Those communications included advising Epstein on how to respond to a media inquiry in 2019 regarding the alleged special legal treatment he received because of his connections, according to the emails.

“I was a defense attorney when I dealt with Jeffrey Epstein,” Ruemmler said in a statement to Reuters on February 3.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report