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

Top Goldman Sachs attorney Kathy Ruemmler said Thursday night that she will leave the investment bank at the end of June; This follows the recent release of additional documents detailing her often intimate conversations with notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

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

“Since joining Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to help oversee the firm’s legal, reputational and regulatory matters, develop our robust risk management processes, and ensure that we live by our core value of integrity in everything we do,” Ruemmler said in a statement. he said.

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

“I informed you with regret earlier today that [Goldman CEO] “I am notifying David Solomon of my intention to step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs effective June 30, 2026.”

“Kathy has served as an outstanding general counsel throughout her tenure, and we are grateful for her contributions and sound advice on a wide range of legal matters important to the firm,” Solomon said in a statement. he said.

“One of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy was also a mentor and friend to many of our people, and we will miss her. I have accepted her resignation and respect her decision,” Solomon said.

The announcement that he would be leaving Goldman, first reported by The Financial Times, came just days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ruemmler was one of three people Epstein called after he was arrested by federal authorities on child sex trafficking charges at a New Jersey airport on July 6, 2019.

The Journal’s report cites a series of handwritten notes from law enforcement officials about comments Epstein made in an FBI vehicle after his arrest.

CNBC confirmed that these notes were among the documents released by the Justice Department in late January.

Ruemmler was a white-collar criminal defense attorney at the firm Latham & Watkins at the time of this interview. He said he never represented Epstein, who killed himself in a New York federal prison weeks after his arrest.

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

“He was friendly with her in that regard. He had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on her part,” Connelly said.

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

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

He is the latest person to lose a high-profile position due to his previous relationship with Epstein.

On Sunday, Morgan Sweeney resigned as chief of staff to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying he had taken responsibility for advising Starmer on his appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US. Starmer fired Mandelson from the role in September over revelations about his links to Epstein.

Last week, Brad Karppresident of large corporate law firm Paul WeissHe resigned from that position following disagreements over emails between himself and Epstein. Karp remains with the company.

“In response to the Epstein emails, a spokesman for Paul Weiss previously said: “Mr. Karp never witnessed or participated in any abuse. Mr. Karp attended two group dinners in New York City and had few social interactions via e-mail; “He regrets all of this.”

Karp said he resigned as chairman because the news was a distraction.

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

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

Ruemmler previously told the Journal he regretted knowing Epstein.

A new tranche of emails released by the Justice Department in late January includes an email Ruemmler sent to Epstein in March 2019, four months before his arrest.

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

At the time he sought Ruemmler’s advice, Epstein was the subject of a series of articles in the Miami Herald criticizing federal prosecutors’ decision not to file charges against him in 2008. Epstein served only 13 months in a state prison in Florida, but was allowed to go to his office during the day for most of that time.

The subject line of the email thread, “From Wapo,” indicates that Epstein reached out to Ruemmler because of an investigation of him by The Washington Post.

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

“Far [receiving] such a sweet deal, Mr. Epstein was subjected to a long, aggressive deal. [and] A highly unusual federal investigation into what is quintessentially domestic. [offenses] “He accepted responsibility, he served,” Ruemmler wrote. [time and] significant monetary payments were made to the victims [involved]”

Ruemmler also suggested saying something like this in the parenthetical section: “But given his wealth, Mr. Epstein… [federal] prosecutors and he would certainly never face this punishment. [salacious] and his mistreatment by the media continued more than 10 years after the case was resolved.”