Epstein files: Goldman Sachs’ Ruemmler, Bill Gates, Leon Black will testify to House panel

The House committee investigating the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday night asked Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs ’ top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, billionaires Leon Black and Ted Waitt, and three other people to testify about their dealings with Epstein.

Gates, Ruemmler and Black all quickly agreed to voluntary, transcribed interviews with the House Oversight Committee.

The panel is also seeking testimony from Doug Band, a former assistant to former President Bill Clinton, Epstein’s former executive assistant Lesley Groff, and Sarah Kellen, another former assistant to Epstein.

A spokesperson for Gates said, “Gates welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”

“While he never witnessed or participated in any of Epstein’s illegal conduct, he is looking forward to answering all the committee’s questions to support their important work,” the spokesperson said.

Ruemmler’s spokeswoman said, “Ms. Ruemmler welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee.”

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

The House Oversight Committee’s request that Ruemmler voluntarily appear before the panel comes nearly three weeks after she said she would leave Goldman Sachs at the end of June.

Ruemmler’s announcement came after a wave of new media coverage focused on her often-friendly email exchanges with Epstein.

Black’s spokesperson said, “Mr. Black paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work and he had no awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity.”

“He looks forward to answering the committee’s questions, providing additional clarity and furthering their work,” the spokesperson said.

Earlier Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick voluntarily agreed to testify to the Oversight Committee about his connection to Epstein, the panel’s chairman, Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, said.

Lutnick, who had been a neighbor of Epstein in New York, admitted in testimony last month to the Senate Appropriations Committee that he visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean with his family in 2012.

Lutnick had previously claimed that he cut off contact with Epstein years before that visit.

Black’s spokesperson said, “Mr. Black paid Epstein for tax and estate planning work and he had no awareness of Epstein’s criminal activity.”

This is from a 2023 CNN article:

The Senate Finance Committee is looking into whether billionaire investor Leon Black’s $158 million payment to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was part of a greater strategy to avoid paying over $1 billion in federal gift and estate taxes.

Wyden revealed Tuesday that the investigation into Black’s dealings with Epstein began in June 2022 and was “prompted by inconsistencies” in a report led by Dechert LLP, a law firm the Apollo board of directors hired to examine Black’s ties to Epstein. “The payments were inexplicably large; well in excess of what Black paid any other financial advisors and far higher than the median compensation of Fortune 500 CEOs at the time,” Wyden said in a statement released Tuesday.

“At every stage of the committee’s investigation, Black has refused to answer questions or provide any documents that could demonstrate how Epstein’s compensation for tax and estate planning services was determined or justified,” Wyden said in the statement.

Why would anyone hire Epstein to advise on taxes and estate planning?

The panel is also seeking testimony from Doug Band, a former assistant to former President Bill Clinton

Interesting.

Goldman Sachs ’ top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler

“... As President Obama’s longest-serving White House Counsel, Ms. Ruemmler advised the President on all legal matters related to domestic and foreign policy and national security.”

What did Obama know and when did he know it?

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