Pressure continues to mount for Casey Wasserman to step down as head of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizing committee following the release of a salacious email he had with Jeffrey Epstein’s partner, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Wasserman is not the highest profile name mentioned in the more than 3.5 million pages of documents released Jan. 30 by the Department of Justice pursuant to the Epstein Files Privacy Act. And he is not the one who is often mentioned. President Trump surpasses him in both categories. And there is serious misconduct by some of the men accused in the files (Bill Gates comes to mind).
But Wasserman is an unusual case of a rich, famous American whose empire is collapsing under calls for accountability from the public, local lawmakers and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Bass this week called on Wasserman to resign as head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics committee because of his relationship with Maxwell. “I can’t fire him,” Bass told CNN’s Dana Bash. “My opinion is that he should resign, that is not the opinion of the board.”
The LA28 Olympics board of directors sided with Wasserman, saying they had reviewed the documents and supported him continuing as chairman.
There is no hint in the files of a crime Wasserman committed, but he showed poor criminal judgment by flirting with Maxwell, who was known (along with Epstein) for hooking up older men with younger women and teenagers. He was convicted of child sex trafficking and other crimes related to Epstein, and in 2022, he was sentenced to 20 years. Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2019 but was found dead in his cell before his trial.
In a 2003 email conversation between Wasserman and Maxwell, he asked, “What do I have to do to see you in a skin-tight suit?” Then in another message, he asked, “Where are you, I miss you. I’ll be in NYC for 4 days starting April 22nd…can we book that massage now?”
Maxwell replied, “All that rubbing – are you sure you can take it?”
Stop reading here if you’re on the verge of purging.
Otherwise, continue: “There are a few areas that are clearly offensive – I think I can adapt them to you.” Maxwell also talked about being in Brazil, and when he asked Wasserman if he had ever been there, he replied, “Never …
Rebellion? Yes, but not as bad as other exchanges in the files between Epstein and stronger men than Wasserman.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk repeatedly sought invitations to Epstein’s private island in 2012 and 2013, for four to five years. after The disgraced patron was convicted by a Florida state court of soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution. Epstein served 13 months. His criminal past, however, didn’t seem to bother Musk, who wrote to Epstein in 2012, “Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working until the end of the year and, when my kids come home after Christmas, I really want to hit a party place in St Barts or somewhere and let loose.”
Epstein replied, “I hear, I’ll see you in st Barth, the size of my island can make Talilah.” [Musk’s then-wife] I’m not comfortable.”
“Measurement is not an issue for Talulah,” Musk replied.
If only he’d held half the heat as Wasserman, he might have backed off long enough to spare us from his post-teen X or his next bad car design. (Let’s face it. The Tesla Cybertruck looks like a giant toe clip.)
However, American billionaires and a powerful group of men who have been revealed to have had bad, immoral or possibly illegal dealings with Epstein and Maxwell have faced negative consequences for their actions, unlike prominent figures in the UK and Europe who have faced great hardship.
The former Prince Andrew was stripped of his title and is now simply Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Removed from his royal residence in Windsor, he had placed it in the king’s private estate in Norfolk. He was arrested by British police on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his contacts with Epstein.
Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the US, was fired because of his relationship with Epstein. And Norway’s former prime minister, Thorbjørn Jagland, is now facing charges over his connections with Epstein.
Here in the United States? With the power to fix or restore, Trump still holds office, as does US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the highest-ranking official outside the president to be named prominently in the Epstein files. Lutnick was grilled last week in a Senate hearing about his relationship with the late financier and the fact that he visited Epstein’s island in 2012 with his family, despite previously saying he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005. Trump is standing by Lutnick.
Their varying degrees of bad judgment and stupid behavior (at best) go unpunished. And as we learned during Atty. The hearing of Gen. Pam Bondi, the Department of Justice has held “powerful men who don’t exist at all” to account.
Wasserman is different. The grandson of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman, he became a formidable sports and entertainment executive in Los Angeles and the founder of the Wasserman agency. Following the recent release of the Epstein files, several artists and athletes including Chappell Roan, Abby Wambach and the Dropkick Murphys have left the agency, citing ethical concerns. Wasserman announced last week that he was selling his company, saying it had become “a distraction” because of the public disclosure of Maxwell’s emails.
External pressure for him to step down from his leadership position at the LA28 Olympic committee continues. Attorney Michael Carrillo, who represents Epstein’s sex-trafficking survivors, called for Wasserman’s removal at a news conference in West Hollywood on Tuesday. Local elected officials, survivors and other activists also called on Bass, the LA28 board of directors and executive committee, and the LA County Board of Supervisors to remove Wasserman.
Wasserman, who has been part of the L.A. Olympic bid since its launch in 2015, says he has had no contact with Maxwell or Epstein in the past 20 years. He said he deeply regrets his correspondence with Maxwell, “which took place twenty years ago, before his horrible crimes were exposed.”
Apologizing with “yes, but…”
Perhaps Wasserman will resign and take time off to chat with Maxwell via email. Meanwhile, the rest of America’s wealthy Epstein cabal continues to float above reproach, and reckoning.
