Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel during Barack Obama's presidency, is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform about her ties to Jeffrey Epstein. This testimony is part of the committee's ongoing investigation into Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

Ruemmler's name appeared thousands of times in records related to Epstein, which were released earlier this year by the Justice Department under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Emails exchanged between Ruemmler and Epstein from 2014 to 2019—years after Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state prostitution charges including procuring a minor—show that Ruemmler accepted luxury gifts from Epstein, addressed him with terms like “Uncle Jeffrey” and “sweetie,” advised him on responding to questions about his sex crimes, and was at one point listed as a backup executor of his will, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In a 2015 email, Ruemmler wrote to Epstein: “friendships goes two ways – getti=g you some peace with respect to all of this legal shit is important to me.”

Ruemmler told the New York Times in June that she first connected with Epstein in 2014 after leaving the White House, when Epstein contacted her about a potential opportunity to work with Bill Gates. She expressed regret, stating, “What I did not appreciate at the time and now deeply regret, is that Epstein used me, along with many others, to legitimize his standing.”

A spokesperson for Ruemmler said, “At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him. She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part.”

Ruemmler announced in February that she would resign from her role as chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs effective June 30, 2026. However, reports from the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and others in June indicated that she agreed to continue at Goldman Sachs in an advisory capacity after CEO David Solomon requested her to remain as an adviser.

Goldman Sachs' decision to retain Ruemmler in an advisory role has drawn criticism from lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi. They sent a letter to Solomon in June seeking information about the decision and requested details about what Ruemmler disclosed regarding her relationship with Epstein before joining the firm.

Sources