On Jeffrey Epstein’s 62nd birthday in 2015, Kathy Ruemmler, a former Obama White House counsel, emailed to wish him well, writing, “I hope you enjoy the day with your one true love. :-)”
The billionaire sex offender replied with a raunchy note and an apparent reference to masturbation: “They say men usually gvie [sic] a name to their penis,” Epstein wrote in a typo-laden email, as it “would be inappropriate to make love to a total stranger.”
That newly released exchange, and others, add fresh details to the relationship between Epstein and Ruemmler, one of the highest-paid lawyers in the country. Ruemmler has said that she got to know Epstein through her work as a lawyer and that the two were “friendly in that professional context.”
Amid the hundreds of email exchanges reviewed by CNN that discuss Epstein’s legal battles and reputational problems, there are other more personal communications between the two, including plans for a proposed trip to Epstein’s island and gifts he’d given her.
In some of their back-and-forth messages, Ruemmler discussed personal matters in her life, expressed gratitude for their “friendship,” and concluded her messages with “xo” and “xoxo.”
After receiving Epstein’s racy reply to her birthday well-wishes, Ruemmler responded, “Hard to believe that there is still an open question about whether men are [the] inferior gender.”
Many of the messages in the newly released files contain typos and spelling errors. It’s unclear whether some of those occurred as the Department of Justice prepared the millions of pages of documents for public release last month.
Ruemmler, who is now the chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs, has weathered numerous news stories in recent weeks examining her relationship with the disgraced financier.
In a statement in December, she said, “I knew Jeffrey Epstein in a professional capacity when I served as head of the white collar defense group at Latham & Watkins, and he was a business referral source. I did not represent him and was not compensated by him. I was one of a number of lawyers Epstein informally reached out to for advice.”
Ruemmler has repeatedly said she regrets ever knowing Epstein and that she had “no knowledge of any new or ongoing unlawful activity on his part.”
“The fact is: Ms. Ruemmler does not make any statement about Epstein’s penis,” Clare told CNN in an email. “She does not reference it. She does not joke about it. She does not banter with Epstein about it. She does not accede to Epstein’s unsolicited, gratuitous remarks about men and their penises. Nothing. Her participation in the entire exchange in [sic] limited to (1) wishing Epstein a happy birthday; (2) ridiculing Epstein for the remark; and (3) exiting the exchange.”
CNN has reported on the depth of Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein, including how she was among a small group of advisers to help him ward off legal and reputational risk during the final years of his life.
But the latest batch of messages released on January 30 reveal in far greater detail the nature of that work, showing how Ruemmler advised Epstein on lawsuits brought by his accusers and coordinated responses to journalists, including regarding a proposed network TV interview with a victim that never aired.
In one exchange with Epstein in February 2015, Ruemmler addressed a Crime Victims’ Rights Act lawsuit brought by Epstein’s accusers, which sought to reopen his 2008 plea deal after he’d been indicted for sex crimes.
And in an email from September 2016, Epstein wrote to Ruemmler: “thansk for your friendhsip and help.”
She replied, “Back at you, and always.”
Connelly, Ruemmler’s spokesperson, declined to answer some of the detailed questions from CNN but said Ruemmler “has done nothing wrong and has nothing to hide. Nothing in the record suggests otherwise.”
Epstein was “a man of a thousand faces,” the spokesperson said. “Ms. Ruemmler only saw the one he put on to win people over and gain credibility and acceptance. Her views were shaped by that and his denials of any wrongdoing other than what he had pled guilty to years prior.”
Connelly said Ruemmler “has been clear and consistent from the outset: she knew him through her work as a criminal defense attorney, shared a client with him, received referrals from him, and was friendly in that professional context.”
Ruemmler, Connelly added, “has deep sympathy for those harmed by Epstein and if she knew then what she knows now, she never would have dealt with him at all.”
