Ruemmler
(Photo
by
William
B.
Plowman/NBC/NBC
Newswire/NBCUniversal
via
Getty
Images)
The
relationship
between
Jeffrey
Epstein
and
Goldman
Sachs’s
top
lawyer,
Kathryn
Ruemmler,
has
put quite
the
spotlight on
her.
The
Epstein
files
reveal
thousands
of
communications
between
the
pair.
Ruemmler
said
of
their
connection,
“I
was
a
defense
attorney
when
I
dealt
with
Jeffrey
Epstein.
I
got
to
know
him
as
a
lawyer
and
that
was
the
foundation
of
my
relationship
with
him.
I
had
no
knowledge
of
any
ongoing
criminal
conduct
on
his
part,
and
I
did
not
know
him
as
the
monster
he
has
been
revealed
to
be.”
But
documents
in
the
most
recent
Epstein
file
dump
suggest
Ruemmler
knew
something
was
up.
We
know
that
Epstein
was
deeply
involved
in
plotting
out
Ruemmler’s
career,
offering
advice
and
negotiation
tips
on
job
offers.
And
in
a
June
2016
email
exchange,
the
pair
were
discussing
a
potential
job
at
hedge
fund
Citadel
(Ruemmler
never
worked
a
Citadel,
at
the
time
of
these
emails
was
she
was
a
partner
at
Latham
&
Watkins
and
co-chair
of
its
white-collar
defense
group;
in
2020,
Ruemmler
left
Biglaw
for
the
in-house
world
at
Goldman
Sachs,
where
she
currently
serves
as
Chief
Legal
Officer
and
General
Counsel).
Ruemmler
seems
skeptical
about
the
job,
and
Epstein
says
“there
is
the
off
chance
that
[hedge
fund
founder
Ken
Griffin]
might
just
be
interested
in
a
woman.”
Ruemmler
thumbs
her
nose
at
the
notion
of
DEI,
writing,
“I
ain’t
no
affirmative
action.”
Epstein
responds,
“i
meant
romantically.”
And
then
comes
the
stomach
churning
line,
“Oh,
Jesus
—
meaning
you
are
going
to
trade
one
of
your
Russians
for
my
comp?!!”
Epstein
is
known
to
have
paid
“ostensible
foreign
models,”
and
the
most
charitable
read
is
that
Ruemmler
was
merely
joking
that
trafficking
one
of
Epstein’s
Russian
models
to
her
maybe-boss
might
lead
to
a
more
favorable
compensation
package…
or
she
suspected
that
was
something
the
“monster”
Jeffrey
Epstein
might
really
do
on
behalf
of
a
trusted
friend.
(From
all
appearances,
Griffin
is
just
catching
strays
here,
and
Citadel
said,
“Ken has
never
met
or
communicated
with Epstein.”)
Either
way
it’s
an
awful
look
for
the
prominent
attorney.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].