Newly released documents have drawn attention to Kathryn Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ chief legal officer, revealing her past communications with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019.

The Daily Mail reported that these files, part of a broader release by the Department of Justice including over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, show Ruemmler, a former White House counsel under President Barack Obama, exchanging emails with Epstein in 2015 about travel arrangements and expressing personal admiration for him, while Goldman Sachs maintains confidence in her role despite the revelations.

Records indicate Ruemmler, who also chairs Goldman Sachs’ conduct committee, knew Epstein since around 2014, shortly after leaving the Obama administration.

Their correspondence includes a September 2014 email where Epstein advised her to “talk to boss” regarding an unspecified matter, to which she replied she needed to be ready to agree before proceeding.

By December 2015, while heading the elite law firm Latham and Watkins, Ruemmler emailed a redacted contact about a first-class trip to Europe charged to Epstein’s credit card, calling him “wonderful Jeffrey.”

Emails Show Personal Admiration

In those 2015 exchanges, timed six years after Epstein’s 13-month prison stint for prostituting a minor, Ruemmler wrote, “Well, I adore him. It’s like having another older brother!”

That kind of sentiment raises eyebrows when tied to someone with Epstein’s record—hardly the brotherly figure one might expect a top lawyer to cozy up to.

Additional messages from 2017 show her disparaging then-President Donald Trump as “so gross,” with a reply noting he was worse in person, hinting at her candidness in private exchanges.

Despite her name appearing hundreds of times in Epstein-related logs, Goldman Sachs insists Ruemmler faces no internal repercussions, with spokesman Tony Fratto stating, “The executives at Goldman who needed to know about Kathy’s prior contact with Epstein knew what they needed to know.”

Such unwavering support might comfort some, but it leaves others wondering if the bank’s due diligence truly accounts for the optics of a chief legal officer tied to a figure like Epstein.

Ruemmler herself has expressed regret over knowing him, clarifying she never represented him legally, a stance echoed by Latham and Watkins, which denied that Epstein was ever a client.

Broader Implications of Epstein Files

The latest Epstein files, released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump on November 19, are just half of the collected records, per Congressional Democrats, suggesting more revelations may loom.

For now, Ruemmler’s history with Epstein—down to trivial details like him knowing her sushi order—fuels scrutiny over how deeply connected elites were to a man indicted for sex trafficking before his 2019 jail cell death.

While Goldman Sachs may stand by its top lawyer, the court of public opinion often renders harsher verdicts, and this saga reminds us that past associations, no matter how disclosed, can cast long shadows over even the most polished careers.