Top CBS, NBC Shows Ignore Obama WH Counsel’s Deep Ties to Jeffrey Epstein

Curtis Houck
February 13th, 2026 3:48 PM

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This week, reports surfaced that the Epstein Files contain a litany of messages outlining a deep-seated personal and professional relationship between the disgraced sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and former Obama White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler.

As a result, she resigned from her high-ranking post at Goldman Sachs. Despite the thousand-plus minutes of Epstein coverage on the flagship newscasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC since July, the latter two have decided to ignore it.

ABC, in contrast, gave it a quick, 35-second nod on Friday’s Good Morning America with congressional correspondent Jay O’Brien telling viewers that Ruemmler was “resigning from her current role as the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs after it was revealed...she and Epstein had a lengthy correspondence, including years after he first pleaded guilty to sex crimes.”

“The CEO of Goldman Sachs calling Ruemmler an extraordinary general counsel, saying he’s grateful for her contributions,” he added.

Making it all the more embarrassing for CBS and NBC were the mentions on liberal cable networks CNN, MS NOW, and CNBC and, in the former’s case, its free, ad-supported (FAST) channel CBS News 24/7.

On MS NOW, Ruemmler was brought up Thursday on All In With Chris Hayes and The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle plus Friday’s Morning Joe, Ana Cabrera Reports, and Chris Jansing Reports, and Katy Tur Reports. CNBC had full discussions on Friday’s Squawk Box and Squawk on the Street.

However, several MS NOW personalities completely ignored Ruemmler’s Obama connection:

CNN only had three mentions through this blog’s publication — Thursday’s Erin Burnett OutFront and The Source plus Friday morning’s CNN News Central — despite the fact that a lengthy CNN.com article by the KFILE team detailed extensive and graphic language between the two in their correspondences.

After three teases for a segment with KFILE name sake Andrew Kaczynski, Burnett explained

“A review of hundreds of e-mails between Epstein and Ruemmler, a woman he once called his ‘great defender’ shows discussions about Epstein’s legal and reputational troubles, as well as more personal communications like plans for a proposed trip to Epstein’s island and gifts he’d given her,” Burnett began before adding Ruemmler has said she had no idea about Epstein’s crimes.

Kaczynski dropped the sordid details, including an “XOXO” email signature and an allusion to male genitalia. Predictably, a Ruemmler representative insisted this was all misinterpreted (click “expand”):

KACZYNSKI: Well, Erin, these new messages reveal even more details about Kathy Ruemmler relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship that, according to these e-mails, both of them described as a friendship. There are hundreds of e-mail exchanges between the two. Some of the messages they discussed Epstein’s legal battles and reputational problems after his 2008 conviction. Other communications between the two include plans for a proposed trip to Epstein’s island and responses to gifts he’d given Ruemmler. In one instance, she wrote, “totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today. Jeffrey boots, handbag and watch.” Now, in some of these back and forth messages, Ruemmler discussed personal matters in her life. She expressed gratitude for their, “friendship” sometimes concluded her messages to Epstein with the sign off XO and XOXO. There’s one example we found where Ruemmler sent Epstein a message on his 62nd birthday in 2015 to wish him well, writing I hope you enjoy the day with your one true love. Adding a smiley face. Epstein replied with a raunchy note and an apparent reference to masturbation, writing, “they say men usually give a name to their penis as it would be inappropriate to make love to a total stranger.” Now after receiving Epstein’s racy reply, Ruemmler responded, “Hard to believe there is still an open question about whether men are the inferior gender.”

BURNETT: Okay. So what has Ruemmler said about this message?

KACZYNSKI: Well, Erin, we asked him about that and they referred this exchange. Ruemmler and her communications team referred CNN questions about this to her attorney, Tom Clare, And this is what he told us. He said, quote, "The fact is Ms. Ruemmler does not make any statement about Epstein’s penis. She does not reference it. She does not joke about it. She does not banter with Epstein about it. She does not accede to Epstein’s unsolicited, gratuitous remarks about men and their penises. Nothing. Her participation in the entire exchange in, I think he meant, is limited to wishing Epstein a happy birthday, ridiculing Epstein for the remark and exiting the exchange.

Kaczynski moved over to the legal relationship and then how she had planned to visit Epstein Island (click “expand”):

In one exchange from February 2015, Ruemmler addressed a crime victim’s rights act lawsuit brought by Epstein’s accusers. That’s the lawsuit which sought to reopen his so-called sweetheart plea deal from 2008. Ruemmler wrote to Epstein, I told you that the CVRA case is about money. And in another message, after inquiring about which lawyer was handling the case, Ruemmler wrote, victims rights, my ass. In another message from July 2015, Ruemmler forwarded Epstein a New York Times story which featured critics of sex offender registries like the one Epstein had been listed on for years by then. “Did you see the New York Times story re misapplication of sex offender registry? Thinking about whether there is an opportunity there,” Ruemmler wrote. Now, a spokesperson for Ruemmler told CNN in a statement that Epstein, “sought informal advice and she provided feedback based on her understanding at the time without any formal involvement.”

(....)

According to the newly released files, Ruemmler at one point inquired about taking a day trip to Epstein’s private island. In a January 16th, 2017 e-mail, that you can see right here, Epstein asked if he could have a plane pick her up in Saint Lucia to fly her to “the island.” Ruemmler replied, asking “can we take a day trip to the island on Saturday or is it too far?” E-mails then show a week later, Epstein appearing to coordinate a private jet to pick her up and referencing a copy of Ruemmler’s passport. This trip appears to have fallen through though, with Ruemmler writing two days later, there was, quote, still too much risk in the air. Later that year, Erin, the topic of the island actually came up again in messages between the two after Hurricane Irma damaged the island. Ruemmler mused about traveling there to help Epstein clean up, writing you know how much I like physical labor. It’s unclear whether Ruemmler ever visited the island, and she has denied ever going there.

He concluded by reiterating a statement from a Ruemmler spokesperson that, while they refused “to answer some of the detailed questions from CNN,” they insisted their client “has done nothing wrong” and “only saw the [face] [Epstein] put on to win people over and gain credibility and acceptance” as well as “through her work as a criminal defense attorney[.]”

To see the relevant CNN transcript from February 13, click here.

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