Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games chief Casey Wasserman has apologized for communicating with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than two decades ago, following the publication of personal emails between them.
These flirtatious exchanges, which date back to 2003, when Mr. Wasserman was married, were among new files involving the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday.
In a statement issued early Sunday, Mr. Wasserman said: “I have never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”
He added: “As has been well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a Clinton Foundation delegation on the Epstein plane in 2002. I deeply regret having any connection with any of them.”
Maxwell, a British socialite and ex-girlfriend of Epstein, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty of sex trafficking of a minor in 2021.
Mr. Wasserman further stated, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” adding that it took place before her and Epstein’s crimes “came to light.”
Maxwell was arrested in 2020, accused of recruiting and grooming girls for sexual encounters with Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Mr. Wasserman is a leading sports and entertainment executive and is currently Chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee LA28, a project he has led since the bidding phase.
The 2028 Summer Olympics were awarded to Los Angeles in 2017.
Mr Wasserman will play a key role in organizing the event, which the US will host for the first time since the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The US also organized the Olympic Games twelve years earlier, while those Games also took place in Los Angeles.
The 2028 Games will be the third time Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics, having also welcomed the world’s best athletes in 1932.
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