Goldman Sachs top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler to step down after email fallout

Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler said Thursday night that she will leave the investment bank at the end of June, a move that comes after the recent release of additional documents detailing her often chummy conversations with notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Goldman had defended Ruemmler for several months after the Department of Justice initially released emails between her and Epstein, as well as other documents related to investigations of him.

“Since I joined Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to help oversee the firm’s legal, reputational, and regulatory matters; to enhance our strong risk management processes; and to ensure that we live by our core value of integrity in everything we do,” Ruemmler said in a statement.

“My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first,” Ruemmler said.

“Earlier today, I regretfully informed [Goldman CEO] David Solomon of my intention to step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs as of June 30, 2026.”

Solomon, in a statement, said, “Throughout her tenure, Kathy has been an extraordinary general counsel, and we are grateful for her contributions and sound advice on a wide range of consequential legal matters for the firm.”

“As 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,” Solomon said.

Her announcement that she will leave Goldman comes days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Ruemmler was one of three people whom Epstein called on July 6, 2019, after being arrested by federal authorities on child sex trafficking charges at an airport in New Jersey. The Journal’s report cites a handwritten set of notes by law enforcement about comments Epstein made inside an FBI vehicle after his arrest.

Those notes are among documents released in late January by the Department of Justice, CNBC has confirmed.

Ruemmler, at the time of that call, was a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with the firm Latham & Watkins. She has said that she never represented Epstein, who killed himself in a New York federal jail weeks after his arrest. 

Ruemmler’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Connelly, told the Journal for its story on Friday, “These documents are consistent with what Ms. Ruemmler has repeatedly said: She knew Epstein when she was a criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him.”

“She was friendly with him in that context. She had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal conduct on his part,” Connelly said.

Ruemmler previously served as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama.

Ruemmler had been Goldman’s chief legal officer and general…