Goldman Sachs top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler to step down after email fallout

Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler said Thursday night that she will leave the investment bank at the end of June, a move that comes after the recent release of additional documents detailing her often chummy conversations with notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Goldman had defended Ruemmler for several months after the Department of Justice initially released emails between her and Epstein, as well as other documents related to investigations of him.

“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,” Ruemmler said in a statement.

“My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first,” Ruemmler said.

“Earlier today, I regretfully informed [Goldman CEO] David Solomon of my intention to step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs as of June 30, 2026.”

Solomon, in a statement, said, “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.”

“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,” Solomon said.

Her announcement that she will leave Goldman comes days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ruemmler was one of three people whom Epstein called on July 6, 2019, after being arrested by federal authorities on child sex trafficking charges at an airport in New Jersey. The Journal’s report cites a handwritten set of notes by law enforcement about comments Epstein made inside an FBI vehicle after his arrest.

Those notes are among documents released in late January by the Department of Justice, CNBC has confirmed.

Ruemmler, at the time of that call, was a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with the firm Latham & Watkins. She has said that she never represented Epstein, who killed himself in a New York federal jail weeks after his arrest. 

Ruemmler’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Connelly, told the Journal for its story on Friday, “These documents are consistent with what Ms. Ruemmler has repeatedly said: She knew Epstein when she was a criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him.”

“She was friendly with him in that context. She had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal conduct on his part,” Connelly said.

Ruemmler previously served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama.

Ruemmler had been Goldman’s chief legal officer and general counsel. She was also a key advisor to Goldman CEO David Solomon.

She is the latest person to lose a high-profile position because of her prior association with Epstein.

On Sunday, Morgan Sweeney resigned as chief of staff to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying he took responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Peter Mandelson as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States. Starmer fired Mandelson from that post in September over disclosures about his connection to Epstein.

Last week,  Brad Karp, chairman of the major corporate law firm Paul Weiss, resigned from that post after fallout over emails between him and Epstein. Karp is staying at the firm.

“In response to the Epstein emails, a Paul Weiss spokesman previously said, “Mr. Karp never witnessed or participated in any misconduct. Mr. Karp attended two group dinners in New York City and had a small number of social interactions by email, all of which he regrets.””

Karp said he was leaving the chairman’s post because of the distraction of the news stories.

In November, after a congressional committee released emails between Ruemmler and Epstein, Goldman Sachs spokesman Tony Fratto told CNBC, “These emails were private correspondence well before Kathy Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs.

“Kathy is an exceptional general counsel and we benefit from her judgment every day,” Fratto said at the time.

Ruemmler has previously told the Journal that she regrets ever knowing Epstein.

In a new tranche of emails that the DOJ released late January is an email that Ruemmler sent Epstein in March 2019, four months before his arrest.

In that email, she offered advice on how to respond to criticism that he had previously received special treatment and a light punishment in 2008 because of his wealth and political connections when he avoided federal prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty in Florida state court to a charge of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. 

At the time Epstein sought Ruemmler’s advice, he had been the subject of a series of articles in the Miami Herald that were critical of the decision by federal prosecutors not to file charges against him in 2008. Epstein ended up serving just 13 months in state prison in Florida, but was allowed out to go to his office during the day for much of that time.

The subject line of the email thread, “From wapo,” suggests that Epstein was reaching out to Ruemmler because of an inquiry by The Washington Post about him.

Ruemmler wrote in the email: “Something like: … ‘The criticism is wrong and reflects a fundamental [misunderstanding] of both the facts underlying Mr. Epstein’s case and how it was [prosecuted] by both local and federal authorities.”

“Far from [receiving] a sweetheart deal, Mr. Epstein was subjected to a lengthy, aggressive, [and] highly unusual federal investigation for what were, in essence, local [offenses] of sexual solicitation,” Ruemmler wrote. “He accepted responsibility, served [time and] prison, and paid significant monetary settlements to the victims [involved].”

Ruemmler, in a bracketed section, also suggested saying something like, “But for his wealth, it is hard to imagine that Mr. Epstein … would have received the aggressive treatment that he did from [federal] prosecutors, and he certainly would never have been subjected to the [salacious] and malicious treatment by the media that he continues to receive mo=e than 10 years after the case was resolved.”

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