XPost: soc.culture.jewish, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: rec.sport.olympics, alt.los-angeles   
   From: adrastea2050@live.com   
      
   SACRAMENTO, California — Los Angeles lawmakers with the biggest stake in   
   the 2028 Olympic Games called on Casey Wasserman to step down as chair   
   of the LA28 committee after the longtime entertainment executive   
   appeared in the Epstein files.   
      
   Wasserman, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, has said he regrets   
   the flirtatious emails he exchanged in 2003 with convicted sex offender   
   Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell before either faced   
   criminal charges. But more than half of the 18 Los Angeles County   
   lawmakers who serve on the state’s legislative Olympics committees told   
   POLITICO in interviews on Tuesday that the entertainment mogul’s past   
   associations with Epstein and Maxwell should lead to his resignation.   
      
   “It’s clear that his public profile is causing a tremendous amount of   
   pain to victims,” said Democratic Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, who   
   represents parts of LA County, including Long Beach, and was among 10   
   lawmakers calling for his ouster. “That’s enough for any of us to want   
   to press the pause button and assess.”   
      
   A day after fielding an inquiry about Wasserman, LA County Legislative   
   Delegation Chair Tina McKinnor on Wednesday released a statement on   
   behalf of the group’s 37 members calling on him to step down, saying his   
   “personal conduct has become a distraction.”   
      
   The state lawmakers’ stance adds to the mounting pressure on Wasserman   
   just days after Mayor Karen Bass told CNN that LA28 — the organizing   
   committee for the Summer Games and Paralympics in Los Angeles, whose   
   executive committee last week backed the chair — needed to find a new   
   leader.   
      
   “The mayor’s right on that one,” said Assemblymember Nick Schultz, a   
   Democrat who represents Burbank. “I think it’s important that LA28 move   
   forward, and to do that, we need to have maximum confidence in the   
   people that’ll be moving it forward.”   
      
   It’s a significant rebuke from state politicians who will host the   
   Olympics in their backyard, and as Los Angeles looks to its delegation   
   in Sacramento — already influential due to its size and diverse makeup —   
   to help prepare the state for the pressure that the Games will exert on   
   the city’s infrastructure, workforce and economy.   
      
   Wasserman has faced an unrelenting series of professional repercussions   
   this month as stars like pop singer Chappell Roan, country artist   
   Orville Peck and Olympic medalist Abby Wambach have left his talent   
   agency. The exodus continued even after Wasserman told employees on   
   Friday he would sell his company.   
      
   “This moment demands selflessness and accountability,” said   
   Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez. “Anything that distracts from the success   
   and credibility of the LA Olympics risks diminishing a historic   
   opportunity for Los Angeles and our country.”   
      
   On Tuesday, not everyone was in alignment calling for Wasserman’s exit.   
   Two lawmakers said they were not sure where they landed on the question   
   for a variety of reasons, including what they described as a lack of   
   information. Six, including McKinnor, initially declined to comment or   
   did not return requests for comment.   
      
   Among those who expressed concern but stopped short of calling for his   
   resignation is state Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat who chairs the state   
   Senate’s special committee on the Olympics and other international   
   sporting events set to take place in the city.   
      
   But even he was hardly coming to Wasserman’s defense. He said he would   
   be in contact with LA28’s executive board, which — days prior to Bass’s   
   condemnation — said it would not remove Wasserman after an independent   
   reviewer found that his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell “did not   
   go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”   
      
   “I am certainly very concerned about Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with   
   Ms. Maxwell and hope the Board is continuing to carefully and   
   independently examine all of the evidence available to us to   
   appropriately hold their leadership accountable,” said Allen. “At some   
   point, this case might become such a distraction that regardless of the   
   facts and particulars, it is in the best interest of the Games for Mr.   
   Wasserman to step down.”   
      
   Take Karen Bass with you.   
      
   https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/18/los-angeles-state-lawmakers-call   
   -for-wasserman-to-step-down-00787153   
      
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