A top Los Angeles politician said Tuesday that LA 2028 Olympics committee chair Casey Wasserman should resign following revelations about racy emails he exchanged with convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Casey Wasserman needs to step down,\u201d said L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who along with other L.A. politicians is working with the LA28 Olympics organizing committee on planning of the Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028,\u201d said Hahn, who represents an area of south Los Angeles County that includes coastal neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
A representative for Wasserman declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Wasserman and other top officials with LA 2028, which is in charge of paying for and planning the Games, are in Italy for meetings ahead of the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
Hahn\u2019s comments follow the release of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein last week by the Justice Department that include personal emails<\/a> exchanged more than 20 years ago between Wasserman and Maxwell, Epstein\u2019s former romantic partner.<\/p>\n In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman \u2014 who was married at the time \u2014 writes to Maxwell about wanting to book a massage and wanting to see her in a tight leather outfit. <\/p>\n She offers to give him a massage that can \u201cdrive a man wild,\u201d and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to posted online<\/a> by the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n In a statement, Wasserman said he regretted his correspondence with Maxwell, which he said occurred \u201clong before her horrific crimes came to light.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. 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,\u201d he said in the statement.<\/p>\n State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat representing Long Beach, where many Olympic events will be held, said Tuesday that \u201cfeeling \u2018deeply regretful\u2019 or \u2018truly sorry\u2019 are not sufficient responses,\u201d and she also called on Wasserman to resign. <\/p>\n \u201cAny person associated with Epstein, Maxwell or the Epstein files, regardless of their power, title, income or who they know, should be held accountable for any involvement they\u2019ve had and that includes Chair Wasserman,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n