By Saeed Azhar
NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs senior counsel Kathryn Ruemmler is set to face congressional scrutiny on Wednesday over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, pushing the Wall Street bank back into the spotlight over its decision to keep her on despite her links to the convicted sex offender.
Ruemmler stepped down as chief legal officer and general counsel at the end of June after documents published by the U.S. Justice Department showed she had extensive communications with Epstein and had also accepted gifts from him.
After she submitted her resignation, Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a CNBC interview at the time that Ruemmler told him the press coverage of the work she had done previously had put “her in a position where it was hard for her to execute on her job and her responsibilities, and she just thought it was time to step away.”
Ruemmler had said at that time, “My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first.”
She agreed to continue in an advisory role as senior counsel until the company appointed a new chief legal officer, Goldman CEO Solomon said in an internal memo in June. Goldman’s decision has been criticized by some lawmakers.
“Congress must use Ms. Ruemmler’s testimony to pull back the curtain on how Jeffrey Epstein built and maintained wealth, power, and influence while operating one of the most notorious sex trafficking operations in modern history,” said Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi in a statement to Reuters.
Epstein, who died in a New York City prison in 2019, had extensive ties to many prominent people in politics, finance, academia and business, including President Donald Trump.
Ruemmler will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to members of the committee, which is investigating Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The committee has issued a series of subpoenas and interview invitations as part of its ongoing investigation into Epstein’s crimes and the federal government’s handling of his cases.
“The records released as part of the Epstein files have revealed a far more extensive relationship between Ms. Ruemmler and Epstein than was previously understood,” said Krishnamoorthi, who is on the committee.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Ruemmler did not respond to a request for comment.
Her spokesperson reiterated an earlier statement that she had done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on Epstein’s part when she interacted with him as a practicing criminal defense attorney.
NUMEROUS COMMUNICATIONS
Ruemmler had a large number of communications with Epstein from 2014 to 2019, even after the disgraced financier’s 2008 guilty plea for procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution, U.S. Justice Department documents showed.
Krishnamoorthi and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in a June letter to Goldman’s Solomon, criticised his move to keep her at the firm, saying it raised serious questions about proper due diligence or whether the firm viewed Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein as appropriate.
Ro Khanna, one of the Congressional representatives behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told Reuters he will ask Ruemmler what she knew about those involved in Epstein’s crimes.
Those showed she accepted gifts from Epstein and advised him on how to address media inquiries regarding his crimes. Epstein also called Ruemmler’s cell phone when he was arrested on July 6, 2019, among other calls he made that night, according to two documents that cited notes from law enforcement officials.
Her spokesperson said it was a brief call and Ruemmler took no action afterwards.
Epstein’s death while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges was ruled a suicide.
The oversight committee has interviewed political leaders such as former President Bill Clinton, current Commerce Secretary and former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Nolan McCaskill; Editing by Megan Davies, Nick Zieminski and David Gaffen)
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