NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs ( GS ) queried

its former top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler in 2023, 2025 and 2026

about links to Jeffrey Epstein amid growing scrutiny of the late

convicted sex offender's ties to the elite and wealthy,

according to a transcript released by the U.S. Congress House

Oversight Committee.

"I wouldn't characterize it as investigation, but there were

reviews done and questions asked. And that occurred in 2023.

That occurred again in 2025, in 2026, as there was increasing

media scrutiny around anybody who had ever sat in the same room

with Jeffrey Epstein," Ruemmler said, according to the

transcript released late on Wednesday.

The internal Goldman Sachs ( GS ) inquiries have not previously

been reported and could raise further questions over the bank's

decision to retain Ruemmler, despite knowing of her links to

Epstein.

A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.

Ruemmler stepped down as Goldman's chief legal officer and

general counsel at the end of June after documents published by

the Justice Department showed she had extensive communications

with Epstein and had also accepted gifts from him.

Ruemmler testified before the Oversight Committee earlier

this month, during which she said Epstein was a "masterful liar"

and that she would have reported him to law enforcement had she

known he was abusing women or girls.

Before joining Goldman in 2020, Ruemmler worked at the law

firm Latham & Watkins LLP and also previously served in the

White House as counsel to President Barack Obama.

During the Goldman inquiries, Ruemmler told the Wall Street

bank that she knew Epstein, and had communicated and "dealt"

with him, she told the Oversight Committee.

She also told Goldman that while Epstein had not been one of

her clients, he had been a primary adviser to one of her

clients, and that "he would certainly ask my views on things

from time to time," she told the Committee.

Ruemmler, who is now serving in an advisory role at Goldman

Sachs ( GS ), said she is involved in the search process for the next

general counsel.

Asked by a committee member to promise that her successor

would have had no association with Epstein or his associate

Ghislaine Maxwell, Ruemmler said that person "will be selected

by our CEO in consultation with our board of directors."

"In the American legal system we hold people accountable for

their conduct. We don't hold people accountable for their

associations," she said.