Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer and former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler has said that she never represented Jeffrey Epstein, but as recently released emails and court documents reveal, she provided legal advice to the infamous sex trafficker as allegations of his abuse and trafficking dogged him.
Ruemmler and Epstein’s chummy banter has been revealed through Justice Department-released documents over the past few months — included as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Email communications and other documents reviewed by MS NOW indicate that beginning in 2014, Ruemmler counseled Epstein on a variety of matters, including appearing to advise on how to respond to accusations made by now-deceased Epstein survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Court documents, in particular, reflect Ruemmler sent or received hundreds of attorney-client communications, either with Epstein directly, or sometimes with Epstein and other lawyers who were representing him.
There is no indication that Ruemmler, who was a litigation partner with the law firm Latham & Watkins between 2014 and 2020, ever made an appearance on Epstein’s behalf in court. Nor is there any known documentation of either Epstein or any of his affiliated companies or nonprofit organizations paying for Ruemmler’s legal services.
Emails included in the DOJ-released tranche of 3.5 million pages, however, reveal that over a period of years, Epstein showered her with gifts, including an Hermes bag; a Fendi purse and coat; spa days at posh hotels in Washington, D.C., and New York City; flowers; and other presents delivered to Ruemmler directly through Epstein’s house manager. Upon receiving these gifts, Ruemmler would thank “Uncle Jeffrey.”
Another document — which appears to reflect a meeting between Deutsche Bank lawyers and Manhattan federal prosecutors — reflects that in May 2019, Epstein paid more than $53,000 directly to a private jet charter company with a note reading “Reference Kathy Ruemmler.”
Ruemmler’s spokesperson, Jennifer Connelly, told MS NOW, “It has been well reported that Epstein’s MO was to provide unsolicited gifts and do unsolicited favors for people. Ms. Ruemmler did not accept the private jet gift you reference.”
“Ms. Ruemmler has done nothing wrong and has nothing to hide. Nothing in the record suggests otherwise,” she said.
In a statement to MS NOW, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, “Kathy is an excellent general counsel and we benefit from her advice every day. Kathy has always had the support of the entire leadership team and the Board and is widely respected and admired at the firm.”
Epstein and Ruemmler were introduced in 2014, not long after Ruemmler left the White House. At the time, Epstein wanted to hire Ruemmler to work on a donor-advised fund he was trying to launch with Bill Gates, and told Gates that Ruemmler was “well respected by the various relevant regulatory bodies, irs, sec, justice etc.”
Not long after, Epstein also solicited Ruemmler’s help in representing his client, Bank Edmond de Rothschild, which he told Ruemmler had a “Justice Department problem like every other Swiss bank.”
Epstein was soon soliciting Ruemmler for advice about his own legal concerns. In one April 22, 2015, email exchange, Epstein asked Ruemmler to advise on his response to claims against him by Giuffre. Epstein asked Ruemmler if “we” should state that he was obligated — likely under his 2007 nonprosecution agreement — to pay Giuffre damages and legal fees without contesting his liability. Epstein believed, according to the email, that Giuffre had “benefited from the very agreement that she now, after taking [his] money, attacks.”
Ruemmler responds, “Ok; let’s figure out what we can say about it. Will talk to Marty this a.m.”
At the time, Epstein was represented by Boston-based criminal defense attorney Martin Weinberg, among others.
A spreadsheet, or privilege log, recently unsealed in an ongoing federal litigation, first reported by Business Insider and then CNN, reflects that on that day and in the days that followed, Ruemmler exchanged emails considered by Epstein’s estate to be protected by the attorney-client privilege with both Weinberg and Epstein.
According to that log, those communications not only pertained to “negotiations with [a] media outlet to prevent false allegations from being aired,” “how to deal with media coverage of claims against Epstein” and a “Good Morning America interview with [name redacted],” but they also cite Ruemmler’s involvement in “providing legal advice” and discussing “litigation strategies” about Giuffre’s case against Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and a Jane Doe’s civil litigation against Epstein himself.
The log also indicates that on April 23, 2015, Ruemmler sent Epstein and Weinberg a “draft letter to the press seeking to correct the record.” The next day, according to CNN, Weinberg wrote to ABC News about an interview with Giuffre, sending a warning letter to the network that airing an interview with her would be “grossly negligent or worse.” That interview — which former “Good Morning America” co-anchor Amy Robach conducted and has discussed publicly — never aired.
Ruemmler spokesperson Connolly told MS NOW, “Ms. Ruemmler has been clear and consistent from the outset: she knew him through her work as a criminal defense attorney, shared a client with him, received referrals from him, and was friendly in that professional context.”
Ruemmler also has maintained that she was not defending Epstein against accusations from survivors. Connelly told MS NOW, “At times, Epstein sought informal advice, and she provided feedback based on her understanding at the time, without any formal involvement. Ms. Ruemmler has deep sympathy for those harmed by Epstein and if she knew then what she knows now, she never would have dealt with him at all.”
Months later, shortly after Giuffre first sued Epstein’s co-conspirator Maxwell for defamation, Ruemmler passed along contact information for Laura Menninger, a Colorado-based lawyer. Sources close to both Ruemmler and Menninger told MS NOW that the women did not know each other and that Ruemmler recommended Menninger based on a then-colleague’s referral. Menninger went on to represent Maxwell in that civil matter as well as other civil litigation and, ultimately, her criminal trial.
In late April 2016, shortly before Giuffre’s deposition, Epstein asked Ruemmler how Menninger could “set [a perjury] trap.” Ruemmler replied, “[G]et her to say things she has already said,” and recommended impeaching her credibility with documentation that “proves otherwise.”
“The age issue” — seemingly a reference to Giuffre’s age at the time she alleged Maxwell abused her — “is perfect for that,” Ruemmler said, later adding, “I so wish I were doing it.”
Although Ruemmler does not refer to Giuffre by her name, the initials “VR” — Giuffre’s first and then-last initial of her maiden name of Roberts — appear to indicate that she is the one referenced in discussion of the May 3 deposition. Giuffre also was, in fact, deposed in her case against Maxwell on May 3, 2016.
Later in 2016, Epstein solicited Ruemmler’s views on getting ahead of a tell-all to be published in October. Ruemmler responded, “Why don’t we approach [Jeffrey] Toobin about doing a book review/lengthier story for the New Yorker?”
While the title of the upcoming book is not mentioned in the emails, the best-selling “Filthy Rich: The Jeffrey Epstein Story” was released in October 2016. Written by James Patterson, John Connolly and Tim Malloy, it was later adapted into the 2020 Netflix documentary of the same name.
In late 2014, after Ruemmler had left the White House but was rumored to be a top contender for attorney general, Epstein and Ruemmler were already in communication about her professional prospects.
As she debated with Epstein whether she was prepared to say yes to a job, if offered, Ruemmler complained, “Most girls don’t have to worry about this crap.”
Epstein responded, “‘girls?” ,, careful I will renew an old habit, .”
In one 2017 email, he complained that a friend — who had accused then-talk-show host Charlie Rose of sexual harassment — hadn’t spoken up on Epstein’s behalf when she came forward.
Epstein believed she should have publicly labeled him as a “gentleman” who tried to protect her from the likes of Rose. Epstein told Ruemmler his own crimes “were paying for sex … no abuse of power, only prostitution.”
Ruemmler replied, “I hear you, sweetie, but there is abuse of power with your stuff too,” before warning him, “please keep your head down.”
MS NOW has chosen to not provide a link to that email as personal information that could identify the woman was not redacted by the DOJ as expected.
In fall 2018, the Miami Herald published a series of reports about Epstein and his victims that reignited public interest in allegations of Epstein’s sexual abuse and trafficking of minor girls.
Among those who began to reexamine Epstein’s history was then-Sen. Ben Sasse, who chaired the Senate Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee. In early 2019, Sasse insisted the DOJ should open an investigation into its handling of the Epstein nonprosecution agreement.
In response, court documents show, Ruemmler corresponded with Epstein and other lawyers about a draft letter to Sasse, even sending a revised version to Epstein himself.
Darren Indyke, one of the co-executors of the Epstein estate and who served as Epstein’s in-house lawyer for decades, also told Epstein via email, “Kathy emailed me that she will be working on the [Ben Sasse] letter when she gets home tonight. She said she would send it to us when she finishes it.”
By April 2019, Epstein appears to have been notified about a new grand jury subpoena, according to legal documents. A source close to Ruemmler insists she was unaware of any new federal criminal investigation. Ruemmler committed the next month to attending a dinner with Epstein, Steve Bannon and Woody Allen, among other guests, after which she told Epstein she would hang back with another lawyer at her firm to discuss “legal stuff” about which she did not elaborate.
When Epstein was arrested at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport on July 6, 2019, Ruemmler appears to have been his first or second call, according to handwritten notes released by the Department of Justice. Ruemmler spokesperson Connolly said it was a brief call and that Ruemmler didn’t take any action after it.
“Ms. Ruemmler was one of the most prominent defense attorneys in the country, and it is well established that she knew Epstein. It is unsurprising that he reached out to her,” she said in a statement.
According to published reports, on July 8, 2019, Ruemmler was in the courtroom as Epstein was arraigned on charges of sex trafficking of minors.
MS NOW is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from NBC, The Associated Press, CNBC and CBS. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the documents and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.
Lisa Rubin is MS NOW's senior legal reporter and a former litigator.
Sydney Reynolds is a senior assignment editor for MS NOW