❌

Normal view

Today β€” 4 February 2026Main stream

Officials calling on LA Olympics leader to step down over emails with Ghislaine Maxwell

Calls are growing for Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, to resign over racy emails exchanged with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Wasserman was quick to respond over the weekend after news broke that his name was included in the most recent drop of documents in the Epstein files. The trove of documents included flirtatious emails from 2003 between Wasserman and Maxwell.

Wasserman apologized for his connection to Epstein and Maxwell.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn and other elected leaders are calling for Wasserman to step down.

"Having him represent us on the world stage distracts focus from our athletes and the enormous effort needed to prepare for 2028," Hahn said in a statement.

L.A. City Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Imelda Padilla, along with state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, are also calling for Wasserman to resign.

Among the exchanges included 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?"

There is also an email exchange about massages and one in which Maxwell asks whether it will be foggy enough during an upcoming visit "so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?"

Wasserman responds, "or something like that."

In a statement released Saturday, Wasserman said "I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell," which he said occurred "long before her horrific crimes came to light."

"I 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," he said.

Wasserman, who is currently in Milan for the Winter Olympics, has been chairman of the LA28 Olympic committee for years now.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

San Jose's PayPal Park to host LA28 Olympic soccer matches

The organizers of the 2028 Summer Olympics have selected PayPal Park as a host stadium for soccer matches.

Stadiums across the country were chosen to host games for both the men's and the women's tournaments.

While the Bay Area is focused on football in the present, the world is setting its sights on fΓΊtbol in the future - and it's not just the World Cup this year.

International soccer will return to the South Bay in 2028 when San Jose's PayPal Park hosts soccer for the LA28 Summer Olympics.

MORE: San Jose's PayPal Park could become new concert venue

"We're the soccer capital of the country - there is no if, ands or butts," San Jose Sports Authority Exec. Director John Poch said. "We have proven, if you look at the players on the U.S. Women's National Team that have come through San Jose in the Bay Area, I mean, where the hotbed. We're the center for soccer in the USA."

San Jose along with New York, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San Diego and, of course, Los Angeles, will host matches for both men's and women's soccer.

PayPal has hosted multiple international friendly games in the past and players have been greeted with an incredible fanbase.

In just a few months, Japan will play the U.S. Women's National Team on April 11 in the South Bay as well.

Olympic matches were played at Stanford Stadium in 1984, but never in San Jose.

MORE: US and Mexico flag football teams to play a game during Super Bowl week in an Olympic preview

"We have an incredible venue for obviously for the San Jose Earthquakes, for Bay FC, but also for international soccer," San Jose Earthquakes COO Jed Mettee said. "We hosted the Gold Cup last summer with Concacaf and showed through three or four matches that we have an amazing fan base here from countries from all over the world. So, we think it's going to be an amazing celebration in 2028."

Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara will host six games for the FIFA World Cup this Summer, part of a major sports year in 2026.

When the calendar switches to 2028, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says the city intends to take full advantage once again.

"We always look to these events to have a legacy component, to have some lasting impact in terms of infrastructure and upgrades, youth programing and sports," Mahan said. "We want to make sure that we include the whole community in this."

"The schedule for both the women's and men's tournaments will be announced before April, but we'll learn which teams will be here in 2028 at a later date.

If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

❌
❌