By Annie Grayer, Andrew Kaczynski, Em Steck, CNN
(CNN) — Former Obama White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler said she regrets interacting with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and believes now it was a mistake, according to opening remarks she delivered to House committee investigators as part of a closed-door interview.
“If I knew then what I know now about who Epstein really was, I never would have accepted an initial meeting with him. It was a mistake to deal with him, and I regret it,” Ruemmler said, according to prepared remarks provided to CNN. “But many people assume that given everything we know now about Epstein, everyone who dealt with him before his 2019 indictment must have known everything then. In my case, that assumption is completely wrong.”
Ruemmler was called to testify voluntarily by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee for a closed-door interview as part of the congressional probe into Epstein after numerous news stories scrutinized her ties to the disgraced financier. Reporting from CNN’s KFILE detailed the extent of her relationship with Epstein, including that she was among a small group of advisers to help him ward off legal and reputational risk during the final years of his life.
Ruemmler did not specifically address how she sought to help Epstein protect his reputation in her opening remarks but did say, “even though I wasn’t his lawyer, he sought my advice from time to time, as many people do. I was friendly with him in that context, and I dealt with him in my ordinary course — casually, informally, and sometimes irreverently.” She also said that Epstein was never her client.
She said that she first met Epstein in 2014 — and explained how she came to learn about how Epstein pled guilty in 2008 to charges that included the solicitation of a minor for prostitution along with other offenses and why she continued to engage with him.
“Epstein told me that, while a small number of the women he had solicited for prostitution turned out to be under the age of consent, he had not known that any of them were underage. Epstein appeared to be quite open about the conduct leading to his conviction, or so he led me to believe. He expressed remorse, embarrassment, and regret for his conduct, which he described as paying money for sex to women he believed to be over the age of 18,” Ruemmler said in her opening statement.
“Notwithstanding his conviction, by the time I met him, he had active relationships with an extensive group of respected professionals in business, academia, politics, and the arts. And given the nature of my law practice, I routinely dealt with compromised or controversial people, including those facing criminal or other allegations of wrongdoing,” she said, while adding that she “at no time” endorsed or excused the conduct to which Epstein pled guilty.
She called Epstein a “masterful liar” — and also said that she “did not see any evidence of ongoing criminal conduct or misconduct of any kind by Epstein.”
She said that, “if I had seen or heard any evidence suggesting that he was abusing women or girls, I would have immediately reported him to law enforcement.”
Ahead of the interview, Ruemmler told CNN, “I will answer any questions that they think will help their inquiry. So, again, I’m looking forward to meeting with the committee members today.”
House Oversight Chair James Comer said prior to the start of the interview, “she’s a very powerful person that was probably more involved in working with him to rehabilitate his image, which I would argue has made it more difficult for him to be held accountable. So, very concerning. We want to know what she