Exclusive: House Democrat urges Goldman Sachs to cut ties with former top lawyer over Epstein scrutiny

By Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck, CNN

(CNN) — The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is calling on Goldman Sachs to sever all remaining ties with Kathy Ruemmler, the firm’s former chief legal officer, following her testimony last month about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

In a letter sent on Friday to Goldman CEO David Solomon, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia called Ruemmler’s testimony before the committee “nothing short of shocking” and said that she was “clearly demonstrating a refusal to take accountability for her conduct.”

“Ms. Ruemmler should not serve as a Goldman Sachs executive in any capacity,” Garcia wrote. Ruemmler initially announced her resignation from the bank in February after a series of reports, including from CNN, detailing the extent of her relationship with Epstein in the years before he died in 2019.

While Ruemmler initially said she intended to leave the bank on June 30, she has since remained in an advisory role, reportedly at the behest of Solomon, while the firm seeks to replace her.

Garcia also called on the bank to commit that its next chief legal officer have no connection to either Epstein or his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell after Ruemmler declined to promise so in her closed-door interview last month. The bank is under no obligation to respond.

CNN has reached out to Ruemmler and Goldman Sachs for comment.

The demand from Garcia marks the latest round of congressional scrutiny over Goldman’s handling of Ruemmler.

In June, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi questioned Solomon’s “professional judgement and fitness” to lead the bank following reports that he had asked Ruemmler to remain as an adviser after her planned departure.

Last month, Ruemmler testified before the Oversight committee for more than seven hours — one of its longest interviews yet in its Epstein probe. Ruemmler said she regretted ever knowing Epstein, called it a “mistake to deal with him” and expressed sympathy for his victims.

Garcia, however, was unsatisfied with many of her answers and called on the bank to reply by August 21. In his letter, he cited Ruemmler’s responses to jokes she and Epstein made about his criminal history and attacks she made against Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers who died by suicide in 2025.

When asked specifically by investigators whether she believed Giuffre was a victim of Epstein and Maxwell’s, Ruemmler answered, “I don’t know.” She added that some of Giuffre’s allegations “lacked inherent credibility.”

Giuffre’s family swiftly blasted Ruemmler’s answer. “The only person who lacks credibility is Kathy Ruemmler, who is trying to get people to believe she didn’t know Jeffrey Epstein was actively engaged in sex trafficking,” Sky and Amanda Roberts, Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law, said in a statement to CNN last week, adding that Ruemmler “should be ashamed of herself.”

Jennifer Connelly, a spokesperson for Ruemmler, told CNN in a statement last week, “As Ms. Ruemmler told the committee, she had no knowledge of Epstein’s ongoing criminal activity and there is not a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise. Ms. Ruemmler would never turn a blind eye to any criminal activity and if she had seen or heard anything to suggest that Epstein was harming women or girls, she would have taken action to stop it.”

The letter from Garcia also said Ruemmler’s testimony “raised serious concerns” about Goldman Sachs’ response to her relationship with Epstein.

According to the letter, Ruemmler told the committee that she disclosed the connection before she was hired and provided the bank with additional information in 2023, 2025 and 2026. She said she “wouldn’t characterize” Solomon’s reaction as concern and that no one at Goldman objected to her serving on the firm’s reputational risk and conduct committees.

CNN’s KFile previously reported on Ruemmler’s ties to Epstein, including the hundreds of emails they exchanged between 2014 and 2019. Some of the emails released in the Epstein files showed Ruemmler advising Epstein on legal and reputational matters in the last five years of his life.

Other emails, which are subject to attorney-client privilege but were described in a court document, suggest she was involved in advising Epstein further on a range of topics, including efforts to preserve his controversial 2008 plea deal, drafting and shaping proposed public statements, editing correspondence with a US senator, and even discussions related to victim settlements.

Some of Ruemmler and Epstein’s communications were also more personal in nature. Emails showed they exchanged pleasantries on birthdays; expressed gratitude for their friendship and the gifts Epstein gave Ruemmler; planned lunches and dinners; scheduled beauty appointments; and even proposed a trip to Epstein’s island in the Caribbean that never materialized.

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