Goldman Sachs stands by Kathy Ruemmler after she – Business News
Goldman Sachs is standing by its high lawyer after newly launched emails revealed she repeatedly trashed President Trump in exchanges with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and turned to him for profession advice.
The Wall Street giant on Thursday defended common counsel Kathy Ruemmler following the release of her correspondence with Epstein by the House Oversight Committee.
The emails launched Wednesday span 2014 to 2019.
Goldman Sachs defended common counsel Kathy Ruemmler following the Wednesday release of her correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein by the House Oversight Committee. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal by way of Getty Images
Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs as its high lawyer in 2020 and is presently co-vice chair of Goldman’s Firmwide Reputational Risk Committee, amongst different roles.
Bankers inside Goldman beforehand complained to senior management about Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein in mild of her function on the reputational risk committee, which decides which purchasers the bank shouldn’t work with, in response to The Wall Street Journal.
Goldman officers reportedly instructed the bankers the Epstein matter had nothing to do along with her job on the firm and that she was upfront in disclosing her relationship with Epstein when she joined
“Kathy is an exceptional general counsel and we benefit from her judgment every day,” Goldman spokesman Tony Fratto mentioned in a assertion to CNBC this week.
Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel underneath former President Barack Obama, frequently vented to Epstein about Trump’s political rise.
“Trump is living proof of the adage that it is better to be lucky than smart,” she instructed Epstein in an August 2015 e mail.
Newly launched emails revealed she repeatedly trashed President Trump in exchanges with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Months later, she expressed alarm about Trump’s climb within the polls because the real estate magnate was vying for the Republican nomination.
“The Trump success is seriously scary,” Ruemmler wrote in February 2016.
“Trump is truly stupid,” she wrote in July 2017. Months earlier, she known as Trump “so gross.”
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Epstein’s reply: “Worse in real life and upclose.”
The emails show Ruemmler additionally consulted Epstein on main profession choices, together with whether or not she ought to develop into US legal professional common in 2014. She picked his mind for advice when rival law companies tried to recruit her and when looking for a Manhattan residence, too.
The correspondence was launched by the House Oversight Committee, which obtained the emails from Epstein’s property.
The messages got here after Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida to soliciting an underage lady for prostitution. He spent 13 months behind bars and have become a registered intercourse offender.
Ruemmler is seen far proper whereas serving as counsel to the president during the Obama administration in 2011. Getty Images
Epstein hanged himself in a Manhattan lockup whereas awaiting trial in August 2019 — weeks after federal prosecutors charged him with intercourse trafficking.
In October 2014, Ruemmler weighed whether or not she ought to succeed Eric Holder as head of the Justice Department.
Epstein urged her to “talk to boss” in regards to the place. In the identical exchange, he provided to attach her with influential figures together with Leon Black, Woody Allen, Peter Thiel and Larry Summers.
Ruemmler ended up eradicating herself from consideration for the legal professional common post and remained on the law firm Latham & Watkins, the place she led its world white-collar protection group.
The lately launched emails captured Epstein and Ruemmler discussing former President Bill Clinton, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — and even people Ruemmler apparently thought-about obese.
The emails span 2014 to 2019. Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs as its high lawyer in 2020. Kathryn Ruemmler / Linkedin
Fratto mentioned Thursday the emails “were private correspondence well before Kathy Ruemmler joined Goldman Sachs.”
Epstein instructed Ruemmler in a single of the emails that he ended his friendship with former President Bill Clinton as a result of he thought he was a liar.
In a January 2016 messge, Epstein mentioned he’d cut off contact with Clinton “when he swore, with whole hearted conviction to me, that he had done something, he had forgotten that he also swore the exact opposite to me only weeks before.”
Epstein instructed Ruemmler in a single of the emails that he ended his friendship with former President Bill Clinton as a result of he thought he was a liar.
A January 2019 draft of Epstein’s will named Ruemmler because the backup executor to his property, in response to a copy of the doc launched by the House Oversight Committee earlier this yr.
In 2023, The Journal reported that Ruemmler met with Epstein “dozens” of occasions after leaving the White House and earlier than beginning her job at Goldman.
Epstein invited her on a 2015 Paris journey and a 2017 go to to his Caribbean island, The Journal reported.
Goldman has mentioned Ruemmler’s ties to Epstein had been skilled and associated to her work at Latham. But Latham has mentioned Epstein wasn’t a consumer.
The Post has sought remark from Goldman, Latham and the White House.
Ruemmler didn’t reply to requests for remark.
