Poppy Wood
Washington: Virginia Giuffre’s family has hit out at a prominent US Democratic lawyer after she claimed the Jeffrey Epstein victim “lacked inherent credibility”.
Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel to former US president Barack Obama, testified to Congress that she thought Giuffre’s sex-trafficking allegations lacked sufficient detail.
In closed-door testimony delivered earlier this month and published on Wednesday (Washington time), Ruemmler said: “There were allegations that she made that were, I believed, based on my experience as a former prosecutor and as a defence counsel, that were of such a nature that they were – they lacked inherent credibility.
“Typically, when someone says, I was sex trafficked to someone, they say who, when, where, not multiple world leaders, multiple foreign presidents.”
Giuffre’s family reacted furiously to the remarks, saying Ruemmler was “the only person who lacks credibility”.
Sky Roberts, the brother of Giuffre, who took her own life last year, and his wife Amanda Roberts, accused the Goldman Sachs lawyer of “trying to get people to believe she didn’t know Jeffrey Epstein was actively engaged in sex trafficking”.
“To attempt to cast doubt on Virginia, whose bravery was the reason so many other survivors stepped forward, resulting in more than 50 people having to step down from their positions of power, is reprehensible. She should be ashamed of herself,” they said in a statement.
“Kathy Ruemmler enriched herself while girls and young women suffered and had their lives destroyed because she enabled their abuser. Shame on Goldman Sachs for keeping her in its employ.”
Giuffre triggered a royal crisis in 2015 after she accused Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell of trafficking her to London in 2001 to have sex with then-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
She alleged in her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, which was published posthumously last October, that she had sex with Mountbatten-Windsor on three occasions when she was 17. The former prince vehemently denies the claims.
Giuffre also accused Epstein of subjecting her to years of physical and sexual abuse after Maxwell recruited her in 2000, when she was 16 and working at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida resort.
She claimed Epstein also shopped her around to have sex with his high-flying friends, naming, among others, Jean-Luc Brunel, the French model scout who died in his cell while awaiting sex-trafficking charges in 2022.
Ruemmler told Congress’ House Oversight Committee that she never saw “any evidence suggesting that [Epstein] was abusing women or girls”, but that she had later come to realise he “was a masterful liar”.
She also acknowledged in testimony made public on Wednesday that she had accepted gifts from Epstein during their six-year friendship and “sometimes irreverently” exchanged emails with him.
The lawyer resigned as Goldman Sachs’ chief legal officer last month, where she was paid $US25 million a year, after details of her relationship with the sex offender came to light. She remains at the investment bank as a temporary adviser.
Ruemmler is one of several high-profile figures to have voluntarily testified to Congress in recent months as part of its investigation into Epstein, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and most recently Jes Staley, the former chief executive of Barclays.
The House Oversight Committee is seeking testimony from Todd Blanche, whose nomination to become US attorney-general has garnered fierce backlash from Epstein victims.
They claim that he mishandled the release of the Epstein files through poor redactions of names and contact details – a task he was delegated as US deputy attorney-general – and by failing to publish the full stash of documents.
Blanche also conducted an interview last northern summer with Maxwell, who was convicted of sex-trafficking charges in relation to Epstein in 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
She was moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security camp in Texas a week after her meeting with Blanche.
It has prompted concerns among victims that Maxwell could eventually be handed a presidential pardon.
The US Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to declare its opposition to any such move. Introduced by Democratic senator Jacky Rosen, from Nevada, the resolution stated that Maxwell “should not be granted a presidential pardon or any form of clemency for her crimes with Jeffrey Epstein relating to the sexual exploitation and abuse of minors”.
The resolution added: “The Senate stands with the victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking and affirms its commitment to justice, accountability, and the protection of children.”
Republicans refused to object to the move, which is non-binding and largely symbolic, meaning they effectively allowed it to pass.
A spokesman for Ruemmler told London’s Telegraph: “As Ms Ruemmler told the committee, she had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity by Epstein and there is not a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise.
“Ms Ruemmler would never turn a blind eye to any criminal activity, and if she had seen or heard anything to suggest that Epstein was harming women or girls, she would have taken action to stop it.”
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
The Telegraph, London
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