Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Ruemmler resigns after Epstein disclosures

By Saeed Azhar and Chris Thomas

NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs GS.N chief legal officer Kathy Ruemmler has resigned, CEO David Solomon said on Thursday, after recent documents by the U.S. Justice Department showed she accepted gifts from late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and advised him on how to address media inquiries regarding his crimes.

The departure of Ruemmler, who was among the top executive officers of the Wall Street firm, is the most high-profile banking exit after the release of the latest Epstein documents by the DoJ last month.

The revelations have engulfed a number of big banks including UBS UBSG.S, which recent documents showed opened accounts for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell in 2014 just months after JPMorgan Chase JPM.N decided to end its relationship with the financier.

"As one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy has also been a mentor and friend to many of our people, and she will be missed," Solomon said in a statement. "I accepted her resignation, and I respect her decision."

Ruemmler told Solomon on Thursday that she would resign, according to a source familiar with the matter. Her resignation will be effective June 30, the source said, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Ruemmler told the Financial Times: "I made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defence attorney, was becoming a distraction."

Ruemmler did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Before joining Goldman, Ruemmler was global chair of the white-collar defense and investigations practice at Latham & Watkins LLP.

Ruemmler, who was also White House counsel during the Obama administration, referred to Epstein in emails as "Uncle Jeffrey" and received gifts from him including wine and a handbag, the documents show.

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.

A separate note by the Federal Bureau of Investigation cited Epstein as saying on the same day: "Is this about sex trafficking. Is this about underage."

The author of the FBI document, who was not named, said Epstein also made utterances including: "Oh this is bad, this is pretty bad."

Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in July 2019. He died in his Manhattan jail cell the following month, in what New York City's chief medical examiner called a suicide.

A LARGE NUMBER OF 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, the documents showed.

These communications included advising Epstein on how to respond to a media inquiry in 2019 concerning the alleged special legal treatment he received because of his connections, the emails show.

"I was a defense attorney when I dealt with Jeffrey Epstein," Ruemmler said in a statement to Reuters on February 3 . "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," she continued. "These decade-old private emails you are selectively referencing and pruriently reporting on have nothing to do with my work at Goldman Sachs."

The newly released documents provided more details about Epstein's ties to prominent people in politics, finance and academia, both before and after his 2008 guilty plea.

In 2018, a third party, whose name was redacted by the government, emailed Ruemmler to say that Epstein wanted to buy a band for her Apple Watch.

"I love the Hermes one!" she responded. "If truly okay with him to do the Hermes, I would love the 40 mm, stainless Hermes with bleu indigo swift leather double tour."

In 2019, she thanked Epstein for more gifts.

"Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today! Jeffrey boots, handbag, and watch!" Ruemmler wrote.