Days after her name appeared in a tranche of newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails, Goldman Sachs General Counsel Kathy Ruemmler sent a company-wide message that some bank employees found tone-deaf.
Ruemmler wrote that “what and how you communicate reflects on you and the reputation of the firm” in a Tuesday memo reminding staffers to complete mandatory training — including a module on “communications at Goldman Sachs.”
The message was not well-received by employees who are disturbed that the firm has yet to even acknowledge that the top legal officer had questionable judgment when it came to advising Epstein.
“The fact they’d put her name on this after last week’s emails … it’s beyond offensive,” one insider said.
Sources also said a handful employees have left Ruemmler’s team over the last few months — frustrated over perception that the ongoing scandal has seemingly been swept under the rug. A September report in the Wall Street Journal claimed she was close to Epstein and once even named the executor of his estate.
And a 2023 WSJ story said that Ruemmler “had dozens of meetings with Epstein in the years after her White House service and before she became a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs … [Epstein] also planned for her to join a 2015 trip to Paris and a 2017 visit to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.”
Emails reveal Ruemmler, a former Obama White House attorney who also referred to herself as Epstein’s lawyer in one email, had a friendly relationship with the disgraced financier.
She wrote to Epstein on September 19 2014: “I’ll be here all week… you may get sick of me…”
After Ruemmler messaged Epstein “Most girls do not have to worry about this crap,” he replied: “Girls?,, careful I will renew an old habit.”
Their banter continued for years.
In July 2016, Epstein wrote, “pretty black dress. you and ruth ginsburg.” Ruemmler replied, “I like that dress … narciso Rodriguez. Where did you see that picture? RBG was my date to state dinner.”
In a 2016 email, Epstein wrote “do you think Bill Clinton would like to join you me chud and steve? could be very funny, all off the record.” She replied, “While he might like to, his lawyer would advise him against it. :-).”
In a statement to The Post, Tony Fratto, Goldman’s Global Head of Communications, said, “These were private emails when Kathy Ruemmler headed the white-collar defense practice at Latham & Watkins, well before she joined Goldman Sachs. Kathy is an excellent general counsel who always serves the firm with integrity. We benefit from her guidance and judgment every day … there is no change in attrition in that office for any reason.
“As Kathy has repeatedly said, she regrets ever having met Jeffrey Epstein,” Fratto added.
Some Goldman staffers were quick to note that others tied to Epstein have publicly had their hands slapped.
Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers — who was revealed to have exchanged emails and text messages with Epstein well after his 2008 guilty plea for sex crimes and up until Epstein’s July 2019 arrest on federal child sex trafficking charges — announced Monday he is “stepping back from public commitments,” including advisory roles, media appearances and speaking engagements. However, he does plan to continue teaching at Harvard as an economic professor.
Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, stepped down as CEO in 2021 and resigned from the board in 2022 after paying Jeffrey Epstein $158 million for financial advice and facing lawsuits alleging Epstein facilitated his sexual abuse of a victim. And Jes Staley, former Barclays CEO, resigned in 2021 amid revelations of his close friendship with Epstein, leading to a lifetime ban from US finance roles.
