1 day ago
8
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs wide counsel Kathy Ruemmler has had a storied ineligible career. As a national prosecutor, she helped successfully prosecute Enron executives including Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. She was portion of President Barack Obama’s administration, moving successful assorted roles for overmuch of his 2 presumption successful office, including arsenic White House Counsel.
She was adjacent concisely considered by President Obama arsenic a campaigner for Attorney General.
On Thursday, Ruemmler, 54, announced that she plans to resign from the apical ineligible station astatine Goldman aft a trove of emails and correspondence betwixt her and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein showed the 2 individuals were particularly close, years aft Epstein’s 2008 condemnation connected enactment crimes charges, erstwhile helium became a registered enactment offender.
Ruemmler antecedently downplayed her narration with Epstein. She called him a “monster” and said she regretted ever knowing him. Ruemmler has repeatedly described their narration arsenic professional, citing her occupation arsenic a backstage defence lawyer earlier she ever joined Goldman Sachs.
But documents released successful caller weeks and reviewed by The Associated Press picture a deeper narration than had antecedently been characterized by Ruemmler and Goldman Sachs. These included intimate email exchanges, societal plans and gifts that went beyond ceremonial ineligible work.
Roughly 8,400 documents progressive Ruemmler oregon referenced her. Some correspondence shows that Ruemmler was alert of the grade of the allegations that Epstein had faced involving underage girls successful Florida. In immoderate instances, she advised Epstein connected however helium mightiness spell astir trying to repair his representation and support himself publically against caller claims of misconduct.
The gifts Epstein gave to Ruemmler person been documented successful quality reports: the spa treatments, the handbags from Hermes, an Apple Watch, a Fendi coat, among galore others. But immoderate of the interactions betwixt Epstein and Ruemmler described passim their correspondence indicates that Epstein and Ruemmler did not simply person a lawyer-client transactional relationship, arsenic Ruemmler antecedently attested to.
“It makes him blessed to spot you happy,” Epstein’s adjunct wrote to Ruemmler successful 2016, aft Epstein prepaid for a spa attraction for her.
In October 2018, Epstein directed 1 of his assistants to nonstop flowers and chickenhearted crockery to Ruemmler due to the fact that she has “not been feeling well.” It would not beryllium the archetypal clip that Epstein would nonstop her a tiny token of appreciation erstwhile she was sick. They talked astir dating issues, made jokes astir some the affluent and mundane people, and shared laments astir their careers and dating lives.
They would connection each different astir mundane things similar their communal distaste for seeing babies successful concern people connected flights and would repeatedly program to person meal oregon drinks successful assorted places. Epstein adjacent had Ruemmler arsenic a backup executor of his volition astatine 1 point.
Setting speech the immense wealthiness and privilege and Epstein’s ineligible troubles, galore of the emails betwixt the 2 would look nary antithetic from the banter that galore Americans would stock to successful their ain substance messages, emails oregon radical chats.
“Well, I adore him. It’s similar having different older brother!” she wrote successful an email successful 2015.
During her clip successful backstage signifier aft she near the White House successful 2014, Ruemmler received respective costly gifts from Epstein, including luxury handbags and a fur coat. The gifts were fixed aft Epstein had already been convicted of enactment crimes successful 2008 and was registered arsenic a enactment offender. Ruemmler was besides progressive successful Epstein's ineligible defence efforts aft helium was arrested a 2nd clip for enactment crimes successful 2019 and aboriginal killed himself successful a Manhattan jail.
“So beauteous and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler wrote to Epstein successful 2018.
She aboriginal joined Goldman Sachs successful 2020 and became the concern bank’s apical lawyer successful 2021.
The firm's enactment backed her publically amid the revelations. But the embarrassing emails raised questions astir Ruemmler’s judgment. Historically, Wall Street frowns connected gift-giving betwixt clients and bankers oregon Wall Street lawyers, peculiarly high-end gifts that could airs a struggle of interest. Goldman Sachs requires its employees to get pre-approval earlier receiving gifts from oregon giving them to clients, according to the company’s codification of conduct, partially successful bid to not tally afoul of anti-bribery laws.
Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal and different media outlets reported that Goldman’s partners, who are the firms astir elder and well-regarded members of the steadfast going backmost to erstwhile the concern slope was privately held, had begun to question wherefore the steadfast was holding Ruemmler successful specified precocious respect erstwhile different lawyers were conscionable arsenic qualified to clasp the apical ineligible job.
In her connection Thursday, Ruemmler said: “Since I joined Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to assistance oversee the firm’s legal, reputational, and regulatory matters; to heighten our beardown hazard absorption processes; and to guarantee that we unrecorded by our halfway worth of integrity successful everything we do. My work is to enactment Goldman Sachs’ interests first.”
Goldman CEO David Solomon helium respected Ruemmler’s determination to resign. The steadfast isn't rushing Ruemmler retired the door, saying successful a connection that she would upwind down her enactment astatine the slope “to guarantee a creaseless transition,” earlier her past time connected June 30.
___
The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department successful collaboration with journalists from CBS, NBC, MS NOW and CNBC. Journalists from each newsroom are moving unneurotic to analyse the files and stock accusation astir what is successful them. Each outlet is liable for its ain autarkic quality sum of the documents.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
English (US) ·