Former Obama official Kathryn Ruemmler resigns from Goldman Sachs over Epstein links
The former White House adviser under President Obama resigned from Goldman Sachs over his ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
According to The Financial Times, Kathryn Ruemmler, who worked as a general counsel at Goldman, said she would resign this summer after emails were revealed by the Justice Department about her conversations with Epstein.
“I have decided that the media attention on me regarding my previous work as a defense attorney has become distracting,” Ruemmler told the publication.
He will leave the company on June 30.
Ruemmler rose to the top on Wall Street and became a key advisor to Solomon after a storied legal career that included serving as White House counsel to former President Barack Obama. The Wall Street Journal reports.
The firm’s directors had previously claimed that Ruemmler had a purely professional relationship with the financier; Ruemmler had claimed that Ruemmler never represented or defended Epstein but occasionally sought his advice.
He said he regretted knowing Epstein and had no knowledge of any new or ongoing illegal activity.
“I made decisions based on the information I had,” he told the Financial Times. ‘I feel tremendous sympathy and heartache for everyone he hurt.’
But the latest release of the Epstein files shows Ruemmler greeting the ‘wonderful Jeffrey’ in emails dated December 25 and 26, 2015, six years after he spent 13 months in prison for prostitution to an underage girl.
Kathryn Ruemmler, who worked as general counsel at Goldman, said she will resign this summer
He previously served as White House counsel to former President Barack Obama. At left, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is seen with Joe Biden, Obama, OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco in 2013.
She was even in the courtroom when Epstein went on trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019, and Epstein once listed her as the backup executor of his will.
Their relationship apparently began around the time Ruemmler left the Obama administration in 2014.
In a correspondence dated September 19, 2014, Epstein told her, ‘You need to talk to the boss.’
Ruemmler, who left the Obama White House about three months ago, according to his LinkedIn page, responded: ‘I agree, but I need to be prepared to say yes before I talk to him.’
“Understood,” said Epstein. ‘This means high risk/reward/low risk/reward. professional, emotional. and financial [sic].’
‘Most girls don’t need to worry about this nonsense,’ she responded.
Epstein shot back: ‘Girls? Be careful, I’m about to renew an old habit.’
He then listed a group of people apparently set to meet ‘this week’, including Peter Thiel, Larry Summers, Bill Burns, former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Leon Black and ‘Woody’.
“And if you think there are interesting people in town, everyone is here for the climate summit, Clinton, the Security Council,” Epstein added.
Ruemmler rose through the ranks on Wall Street and became a key advisor to Goldman Sachs CEO David M Solomon after a successful legal career.
Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein apparently began around the time he left the Obama administration in 2014.
Messages from February 2017 also showed Ruemmler belittling President Donald Trump and calling him “so disgusting.”
‘It’s worse in real life and up close,’ he said.
In other correspondence, Ruemmler referenced Epstein’s “Russians” in an email about a possible job offer before joining Goldman, and in a separate conversation, Ruemmler forwarded financier emails about an affair he had with one of his close associates.
Meanwhile, Epstein showered her with gifts like a Hermes bag, Apple products, spa appointments, haircuts and plane tickets.
‘I was totally fooled by Uncle Jeffrey today!’ ‘Jeffrey boots, handbag and watch,’ she wrote in an email in January 2019.
In all, Ruemmler’s name appears hundreds of times in the more than 500-page email log between Epstein and his lawyers.
Former Goldman Sachs executives reportedly disappointed with CEO David Solomon’s handling of scandal
The documents triggered growing frustrations at Goldman Sachs, the Financial Times reported; Some board members privately expressed concern that Solomon’s support of Ruemmler could damage the bank’s reputation.
“This is distracting and embarrassing,” a person close to the board member said before Ruemmler’s resignation. ‘It’s not the board’s job to hire and fire people. That’s the role of the CEO.”
Several former Goldman executives in the bank’s alumni network also expressed disbelief at Solomon’s handling of the scandal.
Five former partners said they were surprised that he chose to stand by him rather than create distance between the firm and the dispute. Several former executives also expressed feeling “deeply embarrassed,” “crushed,” and “deeply disappointed” by the incident.
In a statement on Thursday, CEO David M Solomon said he had accepted her resignation and ‘respected her decision’.
‘During her tenure, Kathy has served as outstanding general counsel, and we are grateful for her input and sound advice on a wide range of legal matters important to the firm,’ he said.
Ruemmler’s departure marks the third resignation related to the Epstein files, following last week’s resignation of Brad Karp, chairman of major law firm Paul Weiss, and the departure of Mona Juul, the Scandinavian country’s ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
