Local officials in Los Angeles are calling on Casey Wasserman to resign as LA2028 Olympics chief for communicating with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
New files released related to late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein showed flirtatious emails between Wasserman and Maxwell as early as 2003. Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with Epstein.
Reuters was not immediately able to reach LA28 officials for comment. Wasserman on Sunday, Feb. 1, apologized for his association with Maxwell, saying their relationship came before her or Epstein’s crimes were revealed.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, State Senator Lena Gonzalez and a trio of city council members were among those who called for Wasserman to resign, according to the report on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
‘Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028,’ Hahn told the L.A. Times.
The U.S. Justice Department has released millions of documents that show Epstein’s connections to prominent figures across politics, entertainment and business.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and died by suicide that year in a Manhattan jail cell.
With the curtain raising on the Milano Cortina Winter Games this week, IOC President Kirsty Coventry said on Sunday that the Olympics had ‘nothing further to add.’
‘Anything that is distracting from these Games is sad,’ said Coventry, who last March became the first woman IOC chief, one of the most powerful positions in global sport.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan; Editing by David Holmes)