Goldman Sachs Top Lawyer Kathy Ruemmler Resigns Amid Fallout from Epstein Emails
NEW YORK — Kathy Ruemmler, the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Goldman Sachs, announced on Thursday that she will resign from her post following the release of emails revealing a close personal relationship with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ruemmler, who previously served as White House counsel to President Barack Obama, will officially step down on June 30, 2026. Her departure comes as a direct result of documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice, which contradicted her earlier assertions that her relationship with Epstein was strictly professional.
The correspondence, which spans from 2014 to 2019, shows Ruemmler maintained frequent contact with Epstein years after his 2008 solicitation conviction. In the exchanges, Ruemmler referred to Epstein as “Uncle Jeffrey” and described him as an “older brother.” The documents also detail various luxury gifts Ruemmler received from Epstein, including a $9,400 Hermès handbag and a fur-trimmed Fendi coat. In a 2018 email, she wrote to him, “So lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!”
The tone of the emails stands in contrast to Ruemmler’s public statements, in which she has called Epstein a “monster” and expressed regret for ever knowing him. In a statement addressing her resignation, Ruemmler said she determined that “the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defense attorney, was becoming a distraction” for the bank.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who had previously expressed full confidence in Ruemmler as late as December, accepted her resignation. In a statement, Solomon praised her tenure, calling her an “extraordinary general counsel” and noting that she would be missed. Ruemmler had held the top legal position at the Wall Street firm since 2020.
The revelation of Ruemmler’s ties to Epstein is part of a broader disclosure of documents that has impacted several high-profile figures. While Ruemmler was in private practice at Latham & Watkins during the time of the correspondence, the intimacy of the exchanges—including a crude joke regarding Epstein “trading” Russian women—raised concerns about reputational risk for Goldman Sachs.
Ruemmler will remain in her role through the end of June to assist with the transition. Goldman Sachs has not yet named a successor.
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