LOS ANGELES, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Local officials and activists on Tuesday intensified calls for Casey Wasserman to step down as head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organising committee due to his past interactions with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
The individuals stood at a lectern adorned with a #FireWasserman sign where they joined a growing group calling for Wasserman's removal less than a week after the LA28 board backed him as chairman. Wasserman has not been
accused of any wrongdoing.
"West Hollywood has a proud history of standing with survivors and demanding accountability from those who abuse power, and that is exactly what we are here doing today," West Hollywood city council member Chelsea Byers told reporters. "We are calling on Casey Wasserman to resign from his role as chairperson of the LA28 Olympic Committee."
LA28 did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Files published by the U.S. Justice Department in January included email exchanges from 2003 between Wasserman, who was married at the time, and Maxwell, the former girlfriend of the late financier and convicted sex offender Epstein.
Wasserman has denied having a personal or business relationship with Epstein. He has previously apologised for his association with Maxwell, saying their interactions came before her or Epstein's crimes were revealed.
The executive committee of the LA28 board said last week that with the assistance of outside counsel it had conducted a review of Wasserman's past interactions with Epstein and Maxwell.
It determined that 23 years ago, before Wasserman or the public knew of Epstein and Maxwell's crimes, Wasserman and his then-wife flew on a humanitarian mission to Africa on Epstein's plane at the invitation of the Clinton Foundation.
LA28 said this was his single interaction with Epstein, and shortly after, he exchanged the publicly known emails with Maxwell.
"That was an internal report prepared by lawyers hired by the LA28 board. That is not enough. That is insufficient," said attorney Michael Carrillo.
"This is sending a message to all survivors that we will back powerful individuals like Casey Wasserman, but we will not care or protect you. It is sending a message that the LA28 Olympic Committee is more concerned about saving Wasserman than mingling sex trafficking issues with the 2028 Olympics."
Council member John Erickson said during his remarks that on March 2, West Hollywood will become the first city in the nation to introduce a resolution calling on Wasserman to resign.
Caroline Heldman, who is with Stand With Survivors and represents a coalition of multiple survivor organisations, also said Wasserman must go.
"New rule, if you pal around with human traffickers, you don't get to lead the Olympics," said Heldman. "The Olympics are not a private playground for wealthy men, and for the powerful, they are a civic trust that belongs to all of us.
"If LA28 wants to regain its moral authority, and I assure you, you have lost it, the board must immediately remove Casey Wasserman."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)
