Goldman Sachs spent months insisting a top lawyer's Epstein ties were nobody's business.
She resigned anyway – and that's when CEO David Solomon picked up the phone.
What he offered her has Goldman's own executives asking how this is allowed.
Kathy Ruemmler Obama White House Counsel Who Kept Advising Epstein After His Sex Crimes Conviction
Kathy Ruemmler was not some obscure Wall Street attorney nobody had heard of.
She served as White House counsel to Barack Obama – one of the most trusted legal positions in the country.
After leaving the Obama administration she joined the law firm Latham and Watkins – and that's where she met Jeffrey Epstein in 2014.
Epstein had already pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a girl under 18.
Ruemmler knew that.
She advised him anyway – for five years.
The emails were damning enough to end careers.
Ruemmler called Epstein "sweetie” and signed messages with "Xo." She thanked him for Hermès handbags, Apple products, spa appointments, and haircuts.
On his birthday, she told him she hoped he'd "enjoy the day with your one true love."
In one sitting Epstein sent boots, a handbag, and a watch – and got back an email reading: "Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today!"
In March 2019, Epstein texted an associate a document he called the "Ruemmler proposal" – her draft statement telling him what to say to the Washington Post editorial board, which was preparing a piece calling on Congress to investigate his sex crimes.
When the Washington Post began investigating whether Ruemmler buried evidence tying a White House aide to a 2012 Colombia prostitution scandal, she didn't call a crisis consultant.
She called Epstein.
"Trying to isolate/contain wapo," she emailed him the night the story dropped. She sent him her draft response to the reporter and worked through messaging strategy with a convicted sex offender. She was still under consideration to be Obama's Attorney General at the time.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Rehired Ruemmler as Adviser After Epstein Resignation
When the emails went public, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told reporters Ruemmler was "an excellent lawyer" the organization "relies on every single day."
He backed her for months while Goldman's own alumni network warned the controversy was damaging the firm.
When it finally became unsustainable, Ruemmler announced her resignation in February – effective June 30.
Solomon said he "reluctantly accepted" her decision.
That should have been the end of it.
Solomon picked up the phone and personally asked her to stay.
She agreed. She is now listed as an adviser to Goldman Sachs, reporting directly to Solomon.
Goldman's internal review concluded her Epstein ties "did not violate any firm policies."
That sentence tells you everything about the firm's policies.
Some Goldman executives told contacts internally they would have been fired for accepting a fraction of the gifts Ruemmler received from Epstein.
Epstein Files Show Democrat Connections While Schiff and Schumer Blamed Trump
Adam Schiff went on MSNBC demanding Trump answer for his Epstein connections.
The whole time, the Obama White House counsel was drafting Epstein's press statements and coaching him through news cycles about his child sex crimes.
Over 100 emails. Fifty in-person meetings. Her name on his will as a backup executor.
Obama's top lawyer was one of Epstein's most reliable allies.
Now she walks away with an adviser title, a Goldman paycheck, and no criminal exposure.
No charges. No congressional subpoena. No perp walk.
She called it a "distraction" and David Solomon handed her a soft landing.
The Socialist Democrats who spent years weaponizing Epstein's name against Trump have said nothing about the Obama White House counsel who spent five years as his media strategist.
That silence is the story.
Epstein didn't just have access to powerful people. He had access to the people who ran Democrat Washington – and when the files came out, those people called it a distraction and moved on.
Sources:
- Ariel Zilber, "Kathy Ruemmler to remain at Goldman Sachs as adviser after resigning over Epstein ties," New York Post, June 8, 2026.
- "Goldman CEO Asks Top Lawyer to Stay at Firm After Epstein Furor," Bloomberg, June 5, 2026.
- "Kathy Ruemmler leaves Goldman Sachs amid Epstein files fallout," NBC News, February 12, 2026.
- "Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Ruemmler resigns after Epstein disclosures," Reuters, February 12, 2026.
- "Goldman Waiting Until June for Epstein-Tainted Ruemmler to Leave – Why??" National Legal and Policy Center, February 20, 2026.
- Anna Giaritelli, "Who is Kathryn Ruemmler amid Epstein scrutiny?" Washington Examiner, February 21, 2026.
- "A look at how Kathy Ruemmler advised Jeffrey Epstein's media strategy," CNN KFile, December 11, 2025.
- "'OH MY GOD!!!!! I am dying': Jeffrey Epstein Showered Obama White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler With Gifts," Washington Free Beacon, January 30, 2026.