The White House Counsel

On October 14, 2014, Bloomberg News reported that Kathryn Ruemmler — the former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama — was the leading candidate to succeed Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States.1

That evening, Ruemmler sent the article to Jeffrey Epstein.

He responded immediately: "number?" She replied: "I'm almost home. Call there in 10?"1

By the next morning, the coaching had begun. "I have some concrete suggestions for moving forward," Epstein wrote. "1 lets hire a video coach. you need to be trained.. samantha is terrible.. no hand movement or head tilting or nodding.. blinking.. you will need to get the right glasses.. you have two months from today.. have someone from your office videotape the ford presentation. so that it can be reviewed for all of the above."1

Ruemmler's response: "Would a man need a video coach???"1

A convicted sex offender was coaching the leading candidate for Attorney General of the United States — advising on body language, glasses, and public presentation for what would have been a Senate confirmation hearing. The person who had served as the President's chief legal advisor was taking career guidance from a man who had served thirteen months for procuring a minor for prostitution.

The Successor

The EFTA corpus documents something more structurally significant than social contact between Ruemmler and Epstein. It documents a fiduciary relationship — the kind of legal architecture that requires trust, consent, and ongoing obligation.

In January 2017, the Jeffrey E. Epstein 2017 Trust was executed. The trust was valued at approximately $577 million at the time of Epstein's death. It named three initial trustees: Eva Andersson Dubin, Darren K. Indyke, and Richard D. Kahn — Epstein's former girlfriend and his two longtime lawyers.

Section 7.1 provides for succession:

"In the event a Trustee resigns, is removed, becomes incapacitated or is unwilling or is unable to serve, KATHRYN RUEMMLER shall be appointed the successor trustee."2

Epstein's Last Will and Testament, executed in June 2017, contains a parallel succession chain. The primary executors are Indyke, Kahn, and Terje Rip-Larsen. If any fail to serve: "I appoint EVA ANDERSSON DUBIN, as successor Executor, followed by KATHRYN RUEMMLER, as successor Executor."3

Ruemmler is the only person outside Epstein's inner legal circle and longtime personal companions to be named in both documents. She is also the only person in either succession chain who held a senior United States government position.

The September Week

The week of September 8–14, 2014, documents the density of Ruemmler's integration into Epstein's social world. In seven days, she attended at least three events organized through his office.

On September 8, a Google Calendar reminder shows: "3-3:30pm Meet Kathy Ruemmler at the Four Seasons w/Bill Gates."4 The location: Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street — a half-hour meeting between the former White House Counsel, the co-founder of Microsoft, and the scheduling apparatus of a convicted sex offender.

Five days later, on September 13, Lesley Groff's daily schedule email reads: "7:00pm DINNER w/Woody Allen, Soon Yi, Kathy Ruemmler, and MAYBE Peter Thiel."5 The former White House Counsel, dining at a convicted sex offender's home with a filmmaker publicly accused of child sexual abuse.

The next morning — September 14 — the schedule shows: "11:00am BRUNCH w/Bob Kerrey, Peter Thiel, Kathy Ruemmler and Cass."6

"Cass" is Cass Sunstein. Two weeks earlier, Ruemmler had introduced him to Epstein: "Thought of a smart person for you to meet: Cass Sunstein. He is in NY now; married to Sam Power. He was POTUS's regulatory czar, but he is a prolific academic and intellectually creative — far from a vacuum tube."7

Epstein's response: "Great, also week of 22 many interesting people at house."8

Ruemmler was not merely attending Epstein's events. She was recruiting for them — introducing the former Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, whose wife was then serving as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, to a convicted sex offender's social orbit.

The Gifts

The corpus documents a sustained pattern of gift-giving from Epstein to Ruemmler — personal, expensive, and recurring.

On December 5, 2014, Epstein's staff contacted her: "Kathy, Jeffrey would like Jojo to deliver your ring to you!! Where should we have Jojo bring it?" After logistical back-and-forth, Leo hand-delivered the ring to Ruemmler at Latham & Watkins, 885 Third Avenue.9

In April 2015, staff attempted another delivery: "I have a gift for you from Jeffrey that just could not wait!" When Ruemmler was on the train to Washington, the gift was FedExed overnight to her office at Latham & Watkins in DC.10

On August 14, 2016, Lesley Groff emailed the Four Seasons Hotel spa in Washington, DC: "Jeffrey Epstein Amex for Kathy Ruemmler Spa Appt Today." Epstein paid with his American Express card.11

Five days later, when a flower arrangement arrived at Ruemmler's DC office in poor condition, Epstein's staff organized a replacement. Ruemmler responded: "That is so sweet of Jeffrey and not necessary (per usual). :-)"12

Per usual.

The phrase indicates this was not an isolated gesture. It was a pattern — one that Ruemmler herself acknowledged as routine. An earlier Amazon shipment documents a $1,099 Samsung television sent to "Kathryn Ruemmler" and forwarded to Epstein's email.13

The Power Broker

Epstein did not merely socialize with Ruemmler. He managed her career.

On December 6, 2013 — while Ruemmler was still serving as White House Counsel — Epstein emailed Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP:

"1. Hope you can convince Kathy Ruemmler. 2. Next year report shows personal billionaire wealth, only in the states of over 2 trillion... A personal wealth division would be a first in a big firm."14

Karp responded: "Thanks, Jeffrey. Still working on 1."14

A convicted sex offender was working with the chairman of one of America's most prestigious law firms to recruit the sitting White House Counsel. Epstein was positioning himself as the intermediary — the person who could deliver Ruemmler to Paul, Weiss. She ultimately joined Latham & Watkins instead, but the email reveals Epstein's role in her post-White House career planning.

Ten months later came the AG nomination. When Bloomberg reported Ruemmler as Obama's favorite, she called Epstein that evening. By the next morning, he was coaching her on video presentation, glasses, and body language.1 Whether or not Ruemmler knew the nomination would not materialize, the pattern is clear: she treated Epstein as a career advisor at the highest levels of American legal and political life.

"Hope you can convince Kathy Ruemmler." — Jeffrey Epstein to Brad Karp, Chairman of Paul, Weiss, December 6, 201314

The Network

Ruemmler was not just a recipient of Epstein's social attention. She was a node in his network — connecting him to the upper reaches of the Obama administration.

She introduced Cass Sunstein.7 She forwarded an email from David Axelrod — Obama's chief strategist — about a Paul Simon charity event, routing it through Epstein.15 She was paired with Melinda Gates on an invitation to Eva Andersson-Dubin's "Fact vs. Fiction" breast cancer luncheon: "Please give it to anyone you would like, including Kathryn Ruemmler and Melinda Gates."16

When Eva asked Epstein's staff for details about a guest for her luncheon, the description was: "the woman lawyer who work at the white house."17 Ruemmler was known to Epstein's inner circle by her government title — a credential that served as social currency in the same way that Bill Gates's philanthropic brand served as credibility cover.

On September 18, 2014, the connection extended to international politics. Epstein's staff wrote: "Might you be available to come see Jeffrey and Ehud Barak at 1pm on Tues Sept 23rd." Ruemmler replied: "Yes. I can do Tuesday."18

The former White House Counsel accepted an invitation to meet with the former Prime Minister of Israel at the home of a convicted sex offender.

The Architecture

Kathryn Ruemmler is not accused of participating in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. The EFTA corpus contains no evidence that she was aware of his ongoing criminal conduct. What the corpus documents is something structurally different — and, in the architecture of post-conviction rehabilitation, something uniquely valuable.

Each person in Epstein's post-conviction network served a specific function. Bill Gates provided philanthropic credibility — the endorsement of the world's most prominent foundation. Peggy Siegal provided social infrastructure — the guest lists and film industry access that filled Epstein's dining room. Jes Staley provided financial legitimacy — the banking relationship that kept Epstein's money flowing.

Ruemmler provided something none of the others could: the imprimatur of the White House Counsel's office. She was not just a lawyer. She was the lawyer who advised the President of the United States on matters of law and policy. Her presence at Epstein's dinner table, her acceptance of gifts, her recruitment of fellow Obama officials into Epstein's social circle, and her willingness to be named in his trust and will — all of this communicated something to the world: if the former White House Counsel trusts him, he must be trustworthy.

The trust and will appointments transform the relationship from social to fiduciary. As successor trustee, Ruemmler would have had legal authority over a $577 million estate. As successor executor, she would have managed the probate of assets that later became the subject of litigation by trafficking victims. The former White House Counsel had agreed — or was expected to agree — to serve as the legal steward of a convicted sex offender's fortune.

And during one critical month in the fall of 2014, while Ruemmler was reportedly under consideration to become the nation's chief law enforcement officer, it was a convicted sex offender who was coaching her on how to get the job.