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

Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler will leave the investment bank after the recent release of additional documents detailing her often chummy conversations with notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, her spokeswoman said Thursday night.

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.

Her departure from 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 counsel. She was also a key advisor to Goldman CEO David Solomon.

She is the latest person to lose a high-profile position because of her prior association with Epstein.

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