Kathy Ruemmler, a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs and former White House counsel to Barack Obama, announced her resignation on Thursday. The move follows the emergence of emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which reportedly revealed a close relationship in which she described him as an “older brother” and appeared to downplay his sex crimes.
Ruemmler confirmed that she would “resign as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs effective June 30, 2026.”
She had previously tried to distance herself from the correspondence as she was defiant about her failure to resign from the senior legal position she had held since 2020.
Although Ruemmler has recently called Epstein a “monster,” her relationship with him was clearly different before his 2019 arrest for sex crimes and subsequent death by suicide. Emails show she called Epstein “Uncle Jeffrey” and stated she adored him.
In a statement before her resignation, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Ruemmler “regrets ever having known him.”
While in private practice after leaving the White House in 2014, Ruemmler received several expensive gifts from Epstein, including luxury handbags and a fur coat. The gifts were given after Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes in 2008 and registered as a sex offender.
“So sweet and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler wrote to Epstein in 2018.
Historically, Wall Street has frowned on gift giving between clients and bankers or Wall Street lawyers, especially high-value gifts that could pose a conflict of interest. Goldman Sachs requires its employees to obtain pre-approval before receiving or giving gifts from clients, in accordance with the company’s code of conduct, in part to avoid running afoul of anti-bribery laws.
As recently as December, Goldman CEO David Solomon described Ruemmler as an “excellent attorney” and said she had his full confidence and support.
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