Ruemmler
(Photo
by
William
B.
Plowman/NBC/NBC
Newswire/NBCUniversal
via
Getty
Images)
Welcome
to
the
latest
chapter
in
former
White
House
Counsel
(and
soon-to-be
former
Goldman
Sachs
General
Counsel)
Kathryn
Ruemmler’s
ongoing
reputational
crisis.
Now
Ruemmler
is
headed
to
testify
before
the
House
Oversight
Committee
about
her
longstanding
relationship
with
Jeffrey
Epstein.
A
spokeswoman
says
she
“welcomes
the
opportunity
to
appear
before
the
Committee”
and
insists
she
“did
nothing
wrong
and
had
no
knowledge
of
any
ongoing
criminal
activity
on
his
part.”
That
line
should
sound
familiar.
It’s
the
same
one
that
framed
Ruemmler’s
initial
defense
weeks
ago
when
the
Justice
Department’s
release
showed
she
had
accepted
tens
of
thousands
of
dollars’
worth
of
gifts
and
had
advised
Epstein
on
handling
media
inquiries
related
to
his
crimes.
And
it’s
strikingly
similar
to
the
line
plenty
of
other
public
figures
have
deployed
in
the
face
of
Epstein
scrutiny.
Just
a
few
weeks
ago,
the
latest
release
of
Epstein
files
showed
thousands
of
communications
between
Ruemmler
and
Epstein
long
after
his
2008
conviction,
including
messages
that
went
well
beyond
perfunctory
legal
exchanges.
The
infamous
sex
trafficker
wasn’t
a
distant
“professional
contact”
of
Ruemmler’s
at
all
—
he
was
a
booster
of
Ruemmler’s
career,
offering
advice
on
negotiations
and
strategic
introductions
to
potential
employers
while
she
was
contemplating
major
career
moves.
But
it
was
more
than
just
the
volume
of
the
emails
—
Ruemmler’s
emails
weren’t
abstract
legal
texts
or
dry
status
updates.
They
showed
a
level
of
familiarity
—
including
affectionate
nicknames
and
personal
engagement
—
that
goes
well
beyond
the
claim
of
strictly
transactional
professionalism.
Ruemmler
thanked
Epstein
for
expensive
gifts
and
entertained
jokes
and
career-related
counsel
from
him
(including
one
that
aged
particularly
poorly
in
which
she
“joked”
about
trading
one
of
Epstein’s
“Russians”
for
a
better
compensation
package).
The
House
testimony
should
be
illuminating
—
or
at
least
awkward
AF
—
as
they
explore
exactly
what
transpired
between
Kathryn
Ruemmler
and
“Uncle
Jeffrey.”
Stay
tuned.
Because
this
one
is
far
from
over.
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].