\n<\/p>\n
Goldman Sachs\u2019 top lawyer, Kathy Ruemmler, has announced her resignation after emails in the latest tranche of Epstein files revealed she had a close relationship with the convicted child sex offender, whom she called \u201cUncle Jeffrey\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ruemmler said on Thursday she would step down as the bank\u2019s chief legal officer and general counsel at the end of June.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defence attorney, was becoming a distraction,\u201d she told the Financial Times, which first reported her departure.<\/p>\n
Her resignation marks a U-turn for the bank\u2019s top lawyer, after she initially insisted she would not resign from the job she has held since 2020.<\/p>\n
Ruemmler called Jeffrey Epstein a \u201cmonster\u201d in recent statements, with a Goldman Sachs spokesperson previously stressing that she \u201cregrets ever knowing him\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Ruemmler, a former White House counsel to Barack Obama, struggled to distance herself from the emails and other correspondence, which drew media attention after the US Department of Justice\u2019s latest release of the Epstein files.<\/p>\n
The emails revealed she had a much different relationship with the once well-connected financier before he was arrested a second time for sex crimes in 2019. Ruemmler had a large number of communications with Epstein from 2014 to 2019, even after the disgraced financier\u2019s 2008 guilty plea for procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, the documents showed.<\/p>\n
These communications included advising Epstein on how to respond to a media inquiry in 2019 concerning the alleged special legal treatment he received because of his connections, the emails show. The correspondence also showed Ruemmler received expensive gifts from Epstein, and repeatedly called him \u201cUncle Jeffrey\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a defence attorney when I dealt with Jeffrey Epstein,\u201d Ruemmler had told Reuters on 3 February.<\/p>\n
Epstein later died in prison while awaiting child sex-trafficking charges in August 2019.<\/p>\n
During her time in private practice after she left the White House in 2014, Ruemmler received several gifts from Epstein, including luxury handbags and a fur coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!\u201d she wrote to him in 2018.<\/p>\n
Historically, Wall Street frowns on gift-giving between clients and bankers or Wall Street lawyers, particularly high-end gifts that could pose a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n
Goldman Sachs requires its employees to get pre-approval before receiving gifts from clients or giving them, according to the company\u2019s code of conduct, partly in order to not run afoul of anti-bribery laws.<\/p>\n
Epstein also telephoned Ruemmler when he was arrested on 6 July 2019, among other calls he made that night, according to two documents that cited notes from law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n
A separate note by the FBI cited Epstein as saying on the same day: \u201cIs this about sex trafficking. Is this about underage.\u201d The author of the FBI document, who was not named, said Epstein also made utterances including: \u201cOh this is bad, this is pretty bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruemmler was part of the leadership at Goldman, among the top executive officers of the Wall Street firm. As late as December, its chief executive, David Solomon, described Ruemmler as an \u201cexcellent lawyer\u201d and said she had his full faith and backing.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Solomon said: \u201cAs one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy has also been a mentor and friend to many of our people, and she will be missed. I accepted her resignation, and I respect her decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI reluctantly accepted her, her resignation,\u201d he added in an interview with CNBC on Friday morning. \u201cBut I respect her decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
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