Kathryn Ruemmler has spent much of her career behind the scenes at the highest levels of power, serving as former President Barack Obama’s longest-tenured White House counsel before rising to become Goldman Sachs’s top lawyer. Now, newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents and her recent resignation from the bank have thrust her into an unfamiliar spotlight, raising fresh questions about the former administration insider and her ties to the late disgraced financier.
Ruemmler stepped down last week as Goldman Sachs’s chief legal officer and general counsel after months of scrutiny tied to Justice Department releases detailing Epstein’s network of associates. Her resignation takes effect June 30.
There is no indication that individuals mentioned in the millions of Epstein-related documents released by U.S. authorities engaged in criminal wrongdoing. Still, the steady stream of disclosures has created a growing reputational challenge for Goldman Sachs, where Ruemmler oversaw legal, regulatory, and reputational risk matters.
In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, Jennifer Connelly, a spokeswoman for Ruemmler, said the former Goldman executive “has done nothing wrong and has nothing to hide.”
“Jeffrey Epstein was a man of a thousand faces,” Connelly said. “Ms. Ruemmler only saw the one he put on to win people over and gain credibility and acceptance. Her views were shaped by that and his denials of any wrongdoing other than what he had pled guilty to years prior.”
Connelly said Ruemmler knew Epstein through her work as a criminal defense attorney, shared a client with him, and received referrals from him in a professional context. At times, Epstein sought informal advice, she said, and Ruemmler offered feedback based on her understanding at the time, without any formal involvement.
“Ms. Ruemmler has deep sympathy for those harmed by Epstein and if she knew then what she knows now, she never would have dealt with him at all,” Connelly added.
New details from Epstein files
Ruemmler is among the latest high-profile figures to face scrutiny over past ties to Epstein, whose relationships with prominent lawyers, executives, and politicians continue to draw renewed attention as new records are released by the Justice Department.
Emails released in connection with Epstein’s records show a familiar and friendly tone between the two, including exchanges in which Epstein sent her expensive gifts. In one October 2018 message regarding a delivery, Ruemmler thanked him and referred to him as “Uncle Jeffrey,” writing that the gesture was “so lovely and thoughtful.”
The nickname appeared in other correspondence as well. After Epstein arranged for his assistant to book a spa day at the Four Seasons for Ruemmler in August 2016, she accepted and thanked him in an email, writing that she would schedule the appointment in Washington and adding, “Thanks to Uncle Jeffrey!”
Justice Department records show the two exchanged communications between 2014 and 2019, years after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea for procuring a minor for prostitution. Their communication appeared extensive in the years before Epstein’s 2019 death, with Ruemmler’s name appearing repeatedly in documents tied to the case.
HERE’S WHO HAS FALLEN FROM THE EPSTEIN FILES
One of the most striking disclosures involves Epstein’s arrest on July 6, 2019. Handwritten law enforcement notes released by the Justice Department show that after being taken into custody at Teterboro Airport, Epstein made three calls, including one to Ruemmler’s cellphone at 7:15 p.m. The notes also captured his reaction while in an FBI vehicle: “Oh this is bad. This is really bad.”
According to the documents, Epstein contacted his two attorneys and Ruemmler, then a criminal defense lawyer, underscoring that he turned to her even at the moment of his arrest.
A longtime Obama confidante
Ruemmler built her reputation in Washington as one of Obama’s most trusted legal advisers. She joined the administration in January 2009 as principal associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department before moving to the White House as principal deputy counsel to the president.
She later served as White House counsel from June 2011 to June 2014, making her the longest-serving lawyer in that role during Obama’s presidency. In that position, she advised on judicial nominations, executive actions, congressional investigations, and assertions of executive privilege. Obama praised her at the time as an exceptional lawyer with sound judgment and deep trust within the administration.
After stepping down in 2014, Ruemmler returned to private practice and was briefly viewed as a possible successor to Attorney General Eric Holder. Though considered one of the candidates closest to Obama, she ultimately declined to pursue the role after being asked to consider it.
She later became a partner at Latham & Watkins, focused on government investigations, before joining Goldman Sachs in 2020 as global head of regulatory affairs. In 2021, she was promoted to chief legal officer and general counsel and joined the firm’s management committee. She also served on the Federal Industry Regulatory Authority’s Board of Governors.
Resignation from Goldman Sachs
Questions about Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2023, when the Wall Street Journal reported that she had continued meeting with him after his 2008 conviction. The latest document releases intensified that scrutiny and added pressure on Goldman Sachs.
In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner addressing her resignation, Ruemmler said she decided to step aside in the firm’s best interest.
“Since I joined Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to help oversee the firm’s legal, reputational, and regulatory matters; to enhance our strong risk management processes; and to ensure that we live by our core value of integrity in everything we do,” she said. “My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first. Earlier today, I regretfully informed [CEO] David Solomon of my intention to step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs as of June 30, 2026.”
Ruemmler echoed that reasoning in comments shared with Puck News, saying she believed the continued attention had become a distraction.
“I have spent my entire career in a world where facts and evidence matter,” she said. “It is difficult to deal with a situation where the facts become secondary to an alternative narrative. That is what I was facing.”
“It became clear to me that this was not going to stop, and I was not going to let Goldman Sachs absorb that on my behalf,” she told Puck News. “When the attention started to shift from me to Goldman’s leadership team and the board, I believed I had an obligation to step aside.”
WHY THE FBI NEVER QUESTIONED EPSTEIN BENEFACTOR LES WEXNER
“I do not know what people believe the right consequence is for having dealt with Jeffrey Epstein,” she said. “But I wish that I had never returned his first call.”
Once a trusted legal adviser operating largely out of public view, Ruemmler now finds herself defined in part by her past association with Epstein, as newly released records continue to reshape public understanding of his network and the powerful figures connected to it.