Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer sought Jeffrey Epstein’s – Business News
The top lawyer at Goldman Sachs sought Jeffrey Epstein’s help in getting a senior position at Facebook — simply months earlier than he was arrested by the feds for intercourse trafficking, in keeping with newly launched emails.
Kathryn Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ chief legal officer, picked Epstein’s mind for advice whereas she was searching for a top place at Facebook from June 2018 to April 2019, the emails launched by the Justice Department reveal.
According to the correspondence, Epstein drafted communications for Ruemmler to ship to Sheryl Sandberg, who on the time was chief working officer of Facebook.
Kathryn Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ chief legal officer, sought Jeffrey Epstein’s help in touchdown a top job at Facebook, in keeping with newly launched emails. AP
Epstein additionally suggested Ruemmler, on the time a white-collar prison protection lawyer at Latham & Watkins, on compensation calls for and coached her on how to conduct conferences, the Financial Times reported.
The emails additionally show that Epstein lobbied for Ruemmler’s candidacy with Larry Summers, who had employed Sandberg as his chief of employees when he was Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration.
One of the emails Epstein despatched to Summers reads: “your friend sheryl could use ruemmlers help.”
In one other electronic mail, Epstein wrote to Summers: “sheryl needs ruemmler.”
The paperwork show Epstein gave Ruemmler lavish presents, together with a Hermès bag, Apple merchandise, spa remedies, aircraft tickets and luxurious equipment.
In one electronic mail she wrote she was “totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey.”
Ruemmler additionally confided in Epstein about a romantic relationship with a married affiliate of his, with Epstein reassuring her she had “done nothing wrong.”
Ruemmler picked Epstein’s mind for advice whereas she was searching for a top place at Facebook from June 2018 to April 2019, the emails launched by the Justice Department reveal. House Oversight Democrats/AFP through Getty Images
At the identical time, Ruemmler was advising Epstein on media strategy, drafting a proposed response to a Washington Post inquiry that denied he obtained particular legal remedy and emphasised he had “accepted responsibility.”
Despite the emails, Goldman executives have stood by Ruemmler in mild of experiences that some within the bank view her continued employment as a legal responsibility.
“I was a defense attorney when I dealt with Jeffrey Epstein,” Ruemmler advised The Post in a assertion.
According to the correspondence, Epstein drafted communications for Ruemmler to ship to Sheryl Sandberg (seen left together with her then-boss, CEO Mark Zuckerberg), who on the time was chief working officer of Facebook. Getty Images
“I got to know him as a lawyer and that was the foundation of my relationship with him. One of his clients became my client too, we regularly worked together, and he asked me for advice as many people do.”
Ruemmler stated that she was “friendly with him in that context — it was a professional services business” and that she “dealt with him in the same open and informal way as I deal with most people.”
“This is how I am and how I interact with people in both my professional and personal lives.”
While angling for a job at Facebook, Ruemmler and Epstein have been additionally discussing taking up a place at Google guardian company Alphabet in addition to a position at Goldman Sachs, her present employer, in keeping with the FT.
The emails additionally show that Epstein lobbied for Ruemmler’s candidacy with Larry Summers (pictured), the previous Clinton-era Treasury secretary who mentored Sandberg. CQ-Roll Call, Inc through Getty Images
The Facebook talks in the end collapsed in April 2019.
Days later, John Waldron, president and COO of Goldman, urged Ruemmler to show down different presents so Goldman may “design something compelling” for her.
Ruemmler added that she “had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal conduct on his part, and I did not know him as the monster he has been revealed to be.”
“These decade-old private emails you are selectively referencing and pruriently reporting on have nothing to do with my work at Goldman Sachs.”
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“And none of this helps to bring closure or justice to the girls and young women who were victims of his crimes, for whom I have enormous sympathy.”
Epstein as soon as boasted about assembly Mark Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel at what he described as a “wild” dinner,” in keeping with one of the emails launched by the Justice Department.
The late intercourse offender referenced referenced the dinner in an Aug. 20, 2015 electronic mail to billionaire Tom Pritzker, who had requested him if he was planning to journey to New York later that month.
Epstein replied: “not sure yet. i had dinner with zuckerburg, mu=k, thiel hoffman, wild.”
Top Goldman executives together with CEO David Solomon have stood by Ruemmler. REUTERS
“Mark met Epstein in passing one time at a dinner honoring scientists that was not organized by Epstein,” Zuckerberg spokesman Ben LaBolt stated in 2019, when the information of the e-mail was first reported by Vanity Fair.
“Mark did not communicate with Epstein again following the dinner.”
Summers has long confronted scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, together with conferences after Epstein’s 2008 conviction and appearances in a number of caches of launched emails.
Summers was beforehand named in an early model of Epstein’s will as a potential executor — a position he has stated he had “absolutely no knowledge” of — and has acknowledged regretting his affiliation with Epstein.
As a consequence of the revelations, Summers resigned from a number of high-profile roles, together with the board of OpenAI, misplaced fellowships and contributor positions at main establishments and media shops, and was positioned on depart from his educating and management posts at Harvard.
Both Sandberg and Facebook’s guardian company, Meta, declined to remark. A spokesperson for Summers couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
