Epstein Helped Fund Lavish Lifestyle for Former Obama White House Counsel
This one’s hard to explain away.
This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Katelynn Richardson
Jeffrey Epstein helped fund a lavish lifestyle for former Obama White House Counsel and current Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, who he sometimes turned to for legal advice, newly released records show.
Epstein purchased a number of gifts for Ruemmler between 2014 and 2019, including designer bags worth thousands and electronics, while regularly putting down his credit card to cover experiences like facials, haircuts and spa days.
Among these gifts, Epstein purchased a $9,350 Hermes bag, a $6,790 Fendi coat and bag, as well as putting in requests for items like blue silk slippers, an Apple TV and an Apple watch. He had alerts set up on his email at times to send her flowers or purchase sushi, emails show.
A recently unsealed court filing in a civil lawsuit brought by Epstein victims suggested Ruemmler advised Epstein on legal matters, including relating to maintaining his 2008 non-prosecution agreement and public statements to the media, CNN reported Jan. 20. Ruemmler previously told CNN she “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 told the outlet in December.
Previously released email correspondence revealed Ruemmler consulted Epstein when deciding whether to accept an offer to become Obama’s attorney general, as well as on smaller problems like whether she should travel first-class or business on a trip to Dubai.
Ruemmler and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
“It’s well known that Epstein’s MO was to do unsolicited favors for and provide unsolicited gifts to his many business contacts,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement Friday to CNN.
‘Kathy Should Not Spend Money There’
“She won her case and needs some pampering,” Epstein wrote in an August 2016 email directing someone, whose name is redacted in the records, to organize a half-day at the Four Seasons Spa in Washington, D.C.
“Thank you again!!” Ruemmler replied to the individual who arranged the spa day at Epstein’s expense. “And thanks to Uncle Jeffrey!”
Booking confirmations and requests for credit card authorization show he covered other spa days in New York. One receipt shows Epstein paid $658 for Ruemmler’s hair appointment in March 2016.
In a March 2016 email, Epstein instructed an individual to pay for an entire year of facials, stating “kathy should not spend money there.”
On Christmas day in 2015, Epstein directed someone to arrange a “first class trip” to Geneva for Ruemmler.
“I adore him,” Ruemmler wrote to the individual organizing her trip on Epstein’s behalf, whose name is redacted. “It’s like having another older brother!”
Ruemmler wrote that she “never feel[s] as if I can return the kindness adequately.”
She appears to have missed the flight, according to a later Jan. 2, 2016 email.
Another email from October 2016 shows Epstein’s assistant asking a travel company to void a ticket purchased in her name to fly from New York to the U.S. Virgin Islands because “she can’t play hooky from work after all!”
Copyright 2026 Daily Caller News Foundation
Really well documented piece. The detail about Epstein instructing someone to pay for "an entire year of facials" with the note 'kathy should not spend money there' shows such a calculated effort to create dependncy. Back when I worked in compliance, we learned that gift-giving this systematic is a textbook softpower move to build obligation without ever asking directly.
Remember the old saying that power corrupts?
It's true. EVERYTHING is corrupted.
And it's worse than you think.