Los Angeles mayor calls for 2028 Olympics chairman to step down over Epstein files
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP)—Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in an interview Monday she wants Casey Wasserman, whose name was mentioned in the Epstein files, to step down as the chief organizer of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Bass told CNN it was “unfortunate” the LA28 organizers were supporting Wasserman after revelations he exchanged flirtatious emails with Jeffrey Epstein’s girlfriend and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell two decades ago.
Other Los Angeles city officials called for Wasserman to stand down earlier this month, but the mayor initially declined to take a position on the accusations, saying it was up to the board of the LA28 Olympics to decide whether to keep him.
But on Monday Bass said: “My opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.”
She said that “we need to look at the leadership” of LA28.
The LA28 Olympics executive committee gave Wasserman its backing on February 11.
And Wasserman announced last week that he would sell the vast sports and entertainment agency that he founded because of the backlash over the email exchanges with Maxwell.
The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday it was up to the LA organizers to decide whether to keep Wasserman in his job.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told journalists: “This is a matter for the board of LA28 still at this stage.
“As you know a law firm looked into it and it is up to the board to draw their own conclusions. I understand there are many conversations happening at this moment.”
Wasserman, 51, has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in the Epstein scandal.
He said in an apology last month that his exchange with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein, took place before her crimes came to light.
The US Justice Department last month released the latest cache of so-called Epstein files — more than three million documents, photos and videos related to its investigation into sex criminal Epstein, who died from what was determined to be suicide while in custody in 2019.
