Goldman Sachs' top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, has announced she will step down from her role after months of pressure over her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Emails disclosed by the US justice department show she referred to the disgraced financier in emails as Uncle Jeffrey, advised him on how to push back against media and accepted luxury gifts from him.
My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs' interests first, Ruemmler, who previously served as White House counsel to former US President Barack Obama, said in a statement.
Goldman CEO David Solomon thanked her for sound advice. Her resignation will take effect from 30 June.
Throughout her tenure, Kathy has been an extraordinary general counsel, and we are grateful for her contributions, Solomon said in a statement.
There is no suggestion that appearing in the millions of documents related to Epstein that have been released in the US implies any criminal wrongdoing. But the drip of revelations became a public relations headache for the Wall Street bank, where Ruemmler led its reputational risk committee. She joined Goldman in 2020.
Ruemmler said in a statement to news agency Reuters earlier this month: I got to know him [Epstein] as a lawyer and that was the foundation of my relationship with him. I had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal conduct on his part, and I did not know him as the monster he has been revealed to be.
The emails show she had a large number of communications with Epstein between 2014 and 2019, when she was in private practice after leaving the White House.
In one email exchange from December 2015, Ruemmler wrote: I adore him [Epstein]. It's like having another older brother!
Her exit from Goldman follows the release of handwritten notes from a law enforcement official who participated in Epstein's sex trafficking arrest in July 2019, suggesting that he called Ruemmler the night he was arrested.
Furthermore, communications from March 2019 show Ruemmler advising him on how to push back against media scrutiny regarding his 2008 plea deal, which many viewed as overly lenient.
Ruemmler's resignation adds to the growing list of corporate exits linked to Epstein as scrutiny continues surrounding his connections with powerful figures.
