Former top White House lawyer from Richland resigns over Epstein files
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kathy Ruemmler resigns as Goldman Sachs chief legal officer effective June 30.
- Emails and notes show friendship and numerous gifts from Epstein.
- Richland, WA native faces no charges; files show ties to Epstein contacts & social events.
A Richland native who served as counsel for two presidents is under fire for her ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Kathy Ruemmler, 54, announced this month plans to resign from her job as the chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs after newly released files shed light on her close relationship with the disgraced New York financier accused of running a child sex trafficking ring.
BBC News reported that her resignation came after handwritten notes from a law enforcement official show that Epstein tried to call Ruemmler after his 2019 arrest.
Her resignation is effective June 30, according to Politico.
She’s one of a number of high profile leaders in business, foreign and U.S. politics, academia and the legal profession to have resigned, lost their jobs, been arrested or charged in the wake of recent massive releases of investigative material on Epstein.
The scandal also has embroiled world leaders and royalty including President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and others. Emails between Ruemmler and Epstein’s assistants indicate she may have joined him in meetings with at least two former heads of state.
The files were released as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The Trump administration has been under fire for missing key deadlines required by the law, and for redacting information about associates of Epstein, but not victims.
The bipartisan law was passed after nationwide public outcry over Trump walking back his campaign promise to release the files.
A 1989 Richland High School graduate, Ruemmler spent much of her early career with the Department of Justice before serving as an associate counsel to President Bill Clinton from 2000-01.
She came back to the White House under President Barack Obama and was promoted to White House Counsel, serving from 2011-14.
Ruemmler is not accused of any wrongdoing. The emails show that she maintained a friendship with Epstein, often discussing her career with him, through at least May 2019.
The Epstein files
In the emails Ruemmler refers to Epstein affectionately, describing him as “Uncle Jeffrey” and as like an older brother. She also discusses the many gifts he sent her. The New York Times previously reported on Epstein’s use of gifts to curry favor with celebrities and politicians.
The frequent gifts to Ruemmler appear to include bottles of wine, spa days, handbags, trips and even TVs. Documents show he had a file on Ruemmler with information on her passport in order to book trips for her.
The conversations are between Ruemmler and Epstein or his assistants.
One discussion details how Epstein, through his assistant, began asking what kind of television she had, and then sent her an Apple TV, a TV mount, and iMac computer and a printer.
The Department of Justice’s Epstein Library returns 8,938 results related to Kathy Ruemmler, though many of the results are duplications, appointment notes and email threads.
In one email exchange, Ruemmler tells Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, that she feels as if she can never adequately return his kindness.
“Oh but you do ... he considers you a very good friend. That is all he wants!” Groff wrote back.
“Well, I adore him. It’s like having another older brother!” Ruemmler wrote.
The emails also show that in 2014 Epstein made notes that Ruemmler was allegedly interested in joining him for lunches with former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
A 2017 email shows she was unable to make another lunch with Epstein and Barak.
Jagland was charged with aggravated corruption last week in relation to his ties to Epstein. Jagland was hospitalized Tuesday due to the stress of the charges, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
The exchanges uploaded so far begin shortly after Ruemmler left the White House and returned to private practice in 2014.
Later that year Ruemmler was rumored to be a candidate for replacing Attorney General Eric Holder, according to a Tri-City Herald story at the time.
She was a frequent cable news contributor at that time, and discussed with Epstein the potential of becoming a regular commentator with NBC’s Meet the Press, according to the emails.
While Ruemmler has maintained that Epstein was never a client, he did name her as a backup executor of his estate in a 2019 will, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In May 2019, she also appears to tell Epstein’s assistant that she is going to discuss legal matters with him after a dinner.
“Jeffrey wasn’t clear? I am shocked! :-),” Ruemmler wrote.
“The plan is that Marvin (Putnam) and I are coming to dinner with Woody and Steve, and then after dinner Marvin and I will meet with Jeffrey to discuss legal stuff.”
Other emails show that the Woody in the conversation is Woody Allen. Steve appears to be referring to Steve Bannon, who itineraries show was scheduled to be with Epstein for most of the day.
Epstein died in August 2019 in a jail cell in New York City where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 3:54 PM.
