LONDON, Feb 11 - Organisers of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games announced on Wednesday that Casey Wasserman will remain in his post as chairman after an internal review of his past communications with Ghislaine Maxwell.
The decision follows the release late last month by the U.S. Justice Department of files that included email exchanges dated 2003 between Wasserman, who was married at the time, and Maxwell. Maxwell is identified in the released material as the former girlfriend of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of sex trafficking.
LA28 said it treated the newly published material seriously and engaged outside legal counsel to examine the nature of Wasserman’s interactions with Maxwell and any connection to Epstein. That review, the organisers said, found that the relationship did not extend beyond what has already been publicly documented.
"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," the LA28 Executive Committee of the Board said in a statement.
In their public statement, the board emphasised that allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and that they sought independent legal advice during the review. The committee cited Wasserman’s decade of leadership at the organisation in reaching its decision to retain him in the chairmanship.
The statement signals that, based on the materials released by the Justice Department and the subsequent outside counsel review, LA28 does not see grounds in the published exchanges to change its leadership as it continues preparations for the 2028 Games. The organisers framed the outcome as enabling continued work toward delivering what they described as a safe and successful Olympics in Los Angeles.
Details in the released files are limited to the email exchanges identified by the Justice Department, and LA28’s public account restricts its finding to the scope of those documented interactions and the results of its review.
Clear summary
LA28 reviewed email exchanges between chairman Casey Wasserman and Ghislaine Maxwell that were included in recent Justice Department files and, after consultation with outside counsel, concluded the interactions did not go beyond what is already in the public record. The board’s executive committee has decided Wasserman should remain as chairman to continue leading preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.