Kathryn Ruemmler & Jeffrey Epstein

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Note: Inclusion in the Epstein files or this database does not imply guilt or wrongdoing. All data is sourced from publicly released government records, court filings, and verified reporting. This page is for public interest and accountability purposes only.

Background

Kathryn (Kathy) Ruemmler served as White House Counsel to President Barack Obama from 2011 to 2014, and previously as a federal prosecutor on the Justice Department's Enron Task Force. She earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School. After leaving the White House she joined Latham and Watkins LLP as a partner.

In 2020 she was appointed Chief Legal Officer of Goldman Sachs, a position she held until February 2026. Ruemmler maintained a documented personal friendship with Jeffrey Epstein spanning at least 2014 to 2019. EFTA files contain more than 10,000 documents referencing her name, making her among the most frequently mentioned individuals in the released files.

Key documented interactions: In April 2015, Epstein sent Ruemmler a luxury handbag as a birthday gift; she wrote to an intermediary (EFTA02080094): "I absolutely love the handbag. I joked with Jeffrey that I was worried he was sending me a cane, given that it was my 44th b-day." In August 2015, Epstein and Ruemmler exchanged emails about her Africa trip, with Epstein urging her to visit his ranch afterward (EFTA02492713). In December 2015, Ruemmler asked Lesley Groff to arrange her flights to Geneva for a trip with Epstein (EFTA02065458).

In March 2018, Ruemmler discussed over email with Epstein who should serve as trustees for a child, suggesting Lisa O. Monaco (EFTA02502261). In January 2019, Epstein's amended trust listed Ruemmler as a successor Executor of his estate, behind Eva Andersson Dubin and ahead of Stephen Hanson (EFTA00080871).

A January 2017 iMessage chain (EFTA01617428-30) shows Epstein describing Ruemmler to an intermediary who was meeting with Bill Gates: "Bill met my friend Kathy Ruemmler, Obama counsel for 5 yrs. She would love to sit with Melinda and give her the other side of Jeffrey." Epstein added: "Hillary loves Kathy as does Obama. She is an arch feminist who is my great defender." The same exchange shows Epstein coaching the intermediary on how to approach Jared Kushner, Vernon Jordan, and others about the surgeon general appointment.

A November 2015 email from Valeria Chomsky to Lesley Groff (EFTA02066715) asks Groff to identify the White House counsel she and Noam Chomsky met "at Jeffrey's together with Terje Rod-Larsen," confirming that Ruemmler, Roed-Larsen, and the Chomskys were all guests at Epstein's residence at the same event. A December 2015 DOJ Tax Division letter (EFTA00590334) addressed to Ruemmler at Latham and Watkins involves a non-prosecution agreement for Edmond de Rothschild banks under the DOJ Swiss Bank Program. A 2023 JPMorgan civil lawsuit filing (dc-23990810) states that JPMorgan "excitedly received a referral from Epstein for Kathryn Ruemmler, former White House counsel," characterizing her as "a rock star litigator." Goldman Sachs hired Ruemmler as CLO in 2020 despite the existence of these EFTA documents.

On February 12, 2026, Goldman Sachs announced that Ruemmler would resign effective June 30, 2026, following renewed media coverage of the EFTA files including reporting from CNN, NPR, PBS NewsHour, and the Wall Street Journal. The House Oversight Committee issued a call for her to testify on May 12, 2026. Reporting also cited documents showing she described Epstein as an "older brother," received a fur coat in addition to the handbag, and that Epstein called her from jail on July 6, 2019, the day of his federal arrest.

Flight Log Appearances

No flight log records found for Kathryn Ruemmler.

Related Documents

House Oversight Transcribed Interview of Kathryn Ruemmler on Jeffrey Epstein

2026-07-15 · House-oversight · Testimony

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform took a voluntary transcribed interview from Kathryn H. Ruemmler on 15 July 2026 in Room 2247, Rayburn House Office Building, from 10:08 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. over three majority and three minority rounds. Sixteen members are listed as present; Chairman James Comer requested the interview and Billy Grant led the majority questioning. Her counsel were from Arnold & Porter and Liu Shur Kravis. She was White House Counsel to President Obama from 2011 to 2014, global chair of Latham & Watkins' White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice from July 2014 to April 2020, and Goldman Sachs' general counsel from March 2021 until she stepped down at the end of June 2026, testifying she is now in an advisory role there. Ruemmler testified that Epstein cold-called Latham & Watkins in July 2014, days before she formally started, pitching a donor-advised fund he said he was building with Bill Gates, and that weeks later he referred the Edmond de Rothschild Bank to her and remained its primary advisor until she left private practice. She testified he was never her client, never retained or paid her, and that she saw no evidence of ongoing criminal conduct while she dealt with him. Twenty-two exhibits were marked, eighteen minority and four majority; seventeen carry EFTA Bates numbers read into the record. Most are her emails with Epstein; exhibit R is the minority's Interim Staff Analysis. They cover an itemised accounting of gifts, her lawyer referrals, a White House tour, a December 2018 draft media statement she edited, emails around the Maxwell defamation litigation, and her Goldman Sachs disclosures. She said repeatedly that she regrets dealing with him.