Senior Goldman Sachs lawyer resigns over Epstein ties
Senior Goldman Sachs lawyer resigns over Epstein ties
The Telegraph | News Desk
Matthew Field is a Senior Technology Reporter covering the UK tech sector.
He has covered social media giants, technology policy and British start-ups for The Telegraph since 2017.
He can be reached at matthew.field@telegraph.co.uk or via X @matthfield Goldman Sachs' most senior lawyer will resign this summer after thousands of emails revealed her close ties to the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Kathryn Ruemmler, the Wall Street bank's general counsel and a former White House lawyer under Barack Obama, confirmed her departure after admitting her links to Epstein had become a "distraction".
She becomes the latest senior business figure to step down from their role over the Epstein scandal, which escalated after the US Department of Justice released more than three million emails and documents.
Some of which revealed the extent of Mr Ruemmler's relationship to Epstein, whom she referred to as "Uncle Jeffrey".
David Solomon, Goldman Sachs chief executive, said the bank was "grateful for her contributions and sound advice" and said "she will be missed".
Her exit comes after emails revealed how Ms Ruemmler maintained ties to Epstein after he was released from prison in 2009 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Emails contained in the Epstein files revealed Ms Ruemmler accepted expensive gifts from the disgraced financier while working for US law firm Latham & Watkins, including a $9,350 (£6,865) Hermès handbag, a Hermès-branded Apple Watch and a spa trip.
In one email in early 2019, she wrote: "Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today! Jeffrey boots, handbag and watch!" Ms Ruemmler told the Financial Times: "I made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defence attorney, was becoming a distraction." She also said she did not know about Epstein's criminal activities at the time.
Ms Ruemmler said: "I made decisions based on the information that was available to me.
I have an enormous amount of sympathy and heartache for anyone who he hurt." In her emails to Epstein, Ms Ruemmler called the sex offender "wonderful Jeffrey" and in one note wrote: "I adore him.
It's like having another older brother." In another set of emails, Ms Ruemmler forwarded Epstein an email about an alleged affair she had with one of his business associates.
The release of the Epstein files has seen politicians and businessmen forced to reckon with their past ties to the sex offender, who maintained a web of global business contacts.
Last week, Brad Karp, the chairman of the US law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, stepped down over his links to Epstein.
In the UK, Lord Peter Mandelson, the former business secretary, also resigned from the Labour Party over his long friendship with the paedophile..
