Two weeks after the Justice Department’s release of as many as 3.5 million pages of material related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, we’re slowly starting to see some real fallout. The files include hundreds of thousands of emails between Epstein and people he communicated with. Even with redactions, many who downplayed their past relationships with Epstein are now seeing the true nature of their communication with him come into public view.
Kathy Ruemmler resigned yesterday as Goldman Sachs’ general counsel. She joined the bank in 2020 and has repeatedly said she regrets ever knowing Epstein and their relationship was strictly professional through her work as an attorney, though she said she engaged in banter to help with introductions to new clients. But the emails showed a very close relationship, one in which she advised Epstein on how to answer questions about his past conviction for sex crimes, discussed her own personal life, and called him “Uncle Jeffrey.” Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon this week said he was “surprised and disappointed” by Ruemmler’s decision to resign, implying the bank would have continued to stand by her, understanding the relationship in the context of her past job. She said it was her responsibility “to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first.”
Of course, most of the people who corresponded with Epstein were men. The New York Times writes this morning about the “hidden world of an unaccountable elite.” Others have analyzed the role of women in that elite world. “Women exist at the periphery, tolerated because they organize the diaries of the busy men, they arrange food, they grace a table, they provide sex,” Amelia Gentleman wrote for the Guardian. “We see behind the grand façade usually presented by men who run the planet, in government, academia, royalty and business,” Helen Rumbelow wrote of reading the files for The Times of London. “We see the contrast between their public distancing and their private networking. But we also see their everyday exchanges making the cogs of the world turn, oiled by porn-saturated woman-hating.”
So who else has faced some form of consequences so far? Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the leader of ports operator DP World, which is owned by the government of Dubai, resigned today. The files showed he had received a 2019 email from Epstein in which Epstein wrote, “I loved the torture video.” Last week, Brad Karp resigned as chairman of the law firm Paul Weiss—but he’s still a partner at the firm and benefitting from its profits. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was called to testify before Congress, but the White House has continued to stand by him. Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants, is facing a review from the NFL. The Athletic reports that their relationship “stands out for how singularly focused it was on Epstein’s ability to connect Tisch with young women. There was scant talk about philanthropy or business opportunities present in many other Epstein relationships. Rather, Epstein … merely plucked women from his orbit and delivered them to Tisch.” Tisch has said that Epstein was “someone I deeply regret associating with.” Casey Wasserman, the founder of the talent agency Wasserman, is facing pressure to resign as artists and athletes including Chappell Roan and Abby Wambach leave in protest. Wasserman has said he “deeply regrets” emails he exchanged with Ghislaine Maxwell; he’s retained the backing of the board of L.A.’s 2028 Olympic committee, which he chairs.
In the U.K., more prominent men have faced the fallout of their associations with Epstein—notably, the former Prince Andrew, who lost his royal title. Peter Mandelson quit his job as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. and left the British Labour Party; the files showed him providing Epstein with sensitive government information.
But the files have yet to reveal a smoking gun of criminal conduct by anyone other than Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. That’s one reason so many are calling for the full release of millions more pages of documents that remain and unredacted versions of the ones released so far. Lawmakers who viewed the unredacted files said they saw at least six prominent men whose identities were improperly concealed. We’ll see whether the public gets that information. But it’s certain that Epstein’s victims are owed much more than a few lost jobs.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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PARTING WORDS
"Let’s not let them define us as women or put us in a box and say, ‘Oh, well, because now you’re this age, you should only play a grandmother.' I’m like, ‘Hell, no. I will kick ass because I want to, and I still can.'"
—Michelle Yeoh, before being honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin International Film Festival
