The Epstein files claimed a new victim on Thursday, when Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler announced she was resigning from the bank over her ties to the disgraced financier, whom she frequently emailed with and even received gifts from.
With her resignation, there are now multiple wealthy elites who have faced personal ruin over their relationship with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including Prince Andrew, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, prominent Wall Street lawyer Brad Karp, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, United Kingdom Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson, talent agent Casey Wasserman, and CBS contributor Peter Attia, among others. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also facing calls to resign or be fired for his relationship with Epstein, while former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are being forced to testify before Congress over their history with the convicted sex offender.
Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler, shown in 2013.
However, there is one person who isn't being forced to step down from his position or testify under oath over his ties to Epstein: President Donald Trump, the con artist and former close friend of Epstein’s who has been accused of not only knowing about Epstein's abuse of underage girls but also potentially being part of it.
In fact, Republicans and Trump administration officials alike have defended Trump's ties to Epstein
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was Trump’s former personal attorney, tried to absolve his Dear Leader of culpability by saying that it's "not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”
Earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi screamed like a maniac at a congressional hearing, calling questions about the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files a distraction from the stock market’s performance, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average being above 50,000 points. Point of personal inquiry: Now that the Dow Jones has fallen below that benchmark as of the time of this writing, is it acceptable to ask you about the files, Pam?
Of course, the Trump sycophants in Congress spent months defending their rationale for not forcing Trump to release the Epstein files, as well as trying to explain away Trump’s relationship with Epstein himself.
Trump, for his part, did everything in his power to look as guilty as possible in the process. And once congressional Democrats forced his hand on the issue, his administration slow-walked the release of the documents, with his top administration officials doing sloppy redactions that not only exposed privileged information about Epstein's alleged victims but also appeared like an effort to protect powerful people.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, leaves St. George's Chapel in England in 2025.
While Trump is very unlikely to be removed or forced out of office for his Epstein ties, there is an avenue for Americans to force accountability for the GOP on the issue: voting in the November midterms.
Indeed, polling shows that Americans aren't buying the GOP's spin and that they believe Trump was involved in Epstein's alleged crimes.
A YouGov/Economist survey found that 52% of Americans believe Trump is engaged in an Epstein cover-up, with another 50% saying they believe Trump was criminally involved with Epstein.
Democrats are sure to make that point as they campaign to regain control of Congress this fall.
“You have a Republican Party that’s entirely owned by Donald Trump,” Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told MS NOW. “They have no independence. They’re afraid of him. And that’s why there’s actual accountability in the U.K. and other parts of the world—because there’s an actual opposition party that is more loyal to decency than it is to a madman like Donald Trump.”
