Epstein files: Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler asked to testify to House panel

The House committee investigating the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has asked Goldman Sachs' top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, to testify about her interactions with Epstein, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"Ms. Ruemmler welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee," said Jennifer Connelly, her spokeswoman.

"At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him," Connelly said. "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.

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

Lutnick, who had been a neighbor of Epstein in New York, in testimony last month to the Senate Appropriations Committee, admitted visiting 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.