Goldman Sachs is keeping its soon-to-be-former top lawyer on the payroll despite the Jeffrey Epstein scandal that forced her resignation earlier this year.
Kathryn Ruemmler, the bank’s outgoing chief legal officer and general counsel, will remain at Goldman as an adviser after CEO David Solomon personally asked her to stay on, according to Bloomberg News
The move marks a surprising reversal after Goldman announced in February that Ruemmler would retire from her roles effective June 30 following the release of thousands of emails detailing her relationship with the late convicted sex offender.
Solomon later said he had “reluctantly accepted” Ruemmler’s resignation after the Justice Department released troves of Epstein-related documents showing years of close contact between the pair.
Michael Bosworth will take over as interim general counsel in July while Goldman continues its search for a permanent replacement, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the FT.
Ruemmler’s continued association with Goldman is likely to reignite a controversy that rattled the Wall Street giant for months and exposed divisions within the firm over Solomon’s steadfast support for one of his closest advisers.
The former Obama White House counsel stepped down after a steady stream of disclosures revealed a relationship with Epstein that went far beyond a casual professional acquaintance.
The emails showed Epstein arranging gifts for Ruemmler, including a Hermès handbag, Apple products, spa appointments and haircuts. At the time of her resignation, Ruemmler told the FT that the issue had become a “distraction.”
In one 2015 message, she wished him a happy birthday, writing: “I hope you enjoy the day with your one true love :-)”
After Epstein responded with a crude joke, Ruemmler shot back that it was “Hard to believe that there is still an open question about whether men are [the] inferior gender.”
The correspondence also showed Ruemmler expressing appreciation for their relationship.
In one email, she told Epstein that “friendships goes two ways – getti=g you some peace with respect to all of this legal shit is important to me.”
In another message sent during a first-class trip to Europe that Epstein had arranged, she wrote that she was “grateful” for their relationship and signed off with “Xo.”
The two also exchanged warm personal messages over the years.
In September 2016, Epstein thanked Ruemmler for her “friendhsip and help,” to which she replied, “Back at you, and always.”
In a separate 2019 email after receiving gifts from him, Ruemmler wrote: “Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today! Jeffrey boots, handbag, and [watch]!” and added: “Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!”
Ruemmler has consistently argued that her relationship with Epstein arose from her work as a prominent white-collar defense lawyer and that she interacted with him the same way she did many professional contacts.
Through statements issued by her lawyers and spokespeople, she has said Epstein was a business referral source who shared a client with her, that she never formally represented him and was never paid by him, and that she had “no knowledge of any new or ongoing unlawful activity on his part.”
Ruemmler has also maintained that she only saw the version of Epstein that he presented to influential people and that, had she known what later emerged about his conduct, “she never would have dealt with him at all.”
Solomon’s support for Ruemmler had rankled some Goldman executives and members of the bank’s influential alumni network, who feared the controversy could tarnish the firm’s reputation.
Ruemmler’s resignation was one of several high-profile corporate casualties stemming from the Justice Department’s release of Epstein files, which also ensnared billionaire Bill Gates, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and former UK Labour politician Peter Mandelson.
Goldman and Ruemmler both declined to comment.