Casey Wasserman will remain in place as chairman of LA28, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Organizing Committee, the organization announced on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Wasserman has been under pressure to step down after he was mentioned in the latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files.
The 51-year-old shared flirtatious emails with Epstein’s longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2003. At the time, Wasserman was married with a young family.
Wasserman also took a trip with Epstein on his private plane in 2002, traveling to Africa on a humanitarian mission.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors and died by suicide that year in a Manhattan jail cell.
Maxwell was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
The LA28 Organizing Committee said that it brought in outside counsel from O’Melveny & Myers LLP to conduct an investigation into Wasserman, who was fully cooperative.
After meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 11, the committee decided that Wasserman would not leave his position.
‘We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,’ the committee said in a statement.
‘Twenty-three years ago, before Mr. Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell’s deplorable crimes, Mr. Wasserman and his then-wife flew on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein’s plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation. This was his single interaction with Epstein. Shortly after, he traded the publicly known emails with Maxwell.
‘The Executive Committee of the Board has determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games.’
After his name appeared in the latest batch of Epstein files, Wasserman apologized for his association with the late financier and Maxwell.
‘I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light,’ Wasserman said in a statement.
‘I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.’