Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer is leaving the firm, after more documents from the Department of Justice’s files on Jeffrey Epstein shed further light on the attorney’s relationship with the convicted sex offender.
Kathy Ruemmler, previously a top attorney at Latham & Watkins, is resigning from Goldman effective June 30, her representative told Business Insider. She joined Goldman in 2020.
In a statement to Business Insider, Ruemmler said it was her duty “to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first.”
Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a statement to Business Insider that he accepted Ruemmler’s resignation and respected her decision.
“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,” he said.
Epstein called Ruemmler and two others on the night of July 6, 2019, when he was arrested, according to notes released by the DoJ. A spokesperson for Ruemmler previously said the call was short.
Ruemmler confided in Epstein, who pleaded guilty to sex offenses in 2008, about intensely personal details about her life, and sought career and real estate advice. She talked with him about an affair, gushed over gifts of handbags and shoes, and asked him whether she should accept the chance to become Attorney General of the United States in the Obama administration. In one email, she called him “Uncle Jeffrey.”
Epstein gave Ruemmler expensive gifts, including designer purses, prompting the attorney to write him in 2018, “So lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!”
These emails and others were included in a trove of documents released by the Department of Justice last month under the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Our latest coverage of the Epstein files
Although representatives for Goldman Sachs said Ruemmler never personally represented Epstein as an attorney, the emails showed her offering advice for fighting a lawsuit brought by women who accused him of sexual abuse and sought to undo a non-prosecution agreement reached with prosecutors. She also advised him on how to respond in the media to women who said he sexually abused them when they were underage.
Last month, Goldman representative Tony Fratto said in a statement that it is “well known that Epstein often offered unsolicited favors and gifts to his many business contacts.”
“As Kathy has said many times, she had a professional association with Jeffrey Epstein when she was a lawyer in private practice, heading the defense and investigations practice at a global law firm,” the statement said. “She regrets ever knowing him.”
Ruemmler is the latest high-profile figure to face consequences for connections to Epstein. Prominent attorney Brad Karp stepped down as chair of Paul Weiss, though he remains an attorney at the Big Law firm. Longevity researcher and CBS News contributor Peter Attia resigned from a protein bar company and is no longer an advisor for a high-tech mattress maker. Talent agency powerhouse Casey Wasserman is facing calls to resign from some clients, including singer Chappell Roan and soccer star Abby Wambach, who cut ties with the company that bears his name.
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