LA officials call on 2028 Olympics chair to resign over Ghislaine Maxwell emails

Several Los Angeles officials have urged Wasserman" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="22592" data-entity-type="person">Casey Wasserman, the chair of the LA28 Olympics committee, to step down after emails between him and the convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell surfaced.The emails date back to 2003 and appear among more than 3m files related to Jeffrey Epstein released by the justice department last week.The Los Angeles county supervisor Janice Hahn is one of several officials calling on the sports agent and entertainment executive to resign.“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 Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles city council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Imelda Padilla, as well as state senator Lena Gonzalez and county supervisor Lindsey Horvath, have also joined in calling for his resignation.The flirtatious email exchanges between Wasserman and Maxwell included one message in which Wasserman said he thought about Maxwell frequently.One of the messages shows Wasserman telling Maxwell: “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”Other emails reference massages, as well as one message in which Maxwell asks whether it would be foggy enough during a future visit “so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?”Wasserman replies: “or something like that.”Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with Epstein. In a statement released Saturday, he said: “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,” he added. “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.”The Guardian has contacted Wasserman for comment.Wasserman, 51, is the chair and president of the Los Angeles organizing committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and is also the founder and CEO of Wasserman, a global firm specializing in marketing and talent management that represents various athletes, artists and brands.Reuters contributed to this report