Survivor

Pressure continues to mount for Casey Wasserman to resign as head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee following the release of a salacious email exchange he had with Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Wasserman is hardly the highest-profile name mentioned in more than 3.5 million pages of documents released Jan. 30 by the Department of Justice in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Nor is he the most frequently mentioned. President Trump outranks him in both categories. And there’s far more egregious behavior by other men alleged in the files (Bill Gates comes to mind).

But Wasserman is the rare case of a wealthy, renown American elite whose empire is crumbling under calls for accountability from the public, local lawmakers and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Bass this week urged Wasserman to resign as head of the committee overseeing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games because of his ties to Maxwell. “I cannot fire him,” Bass told CNN’s Dana Bash. “My opinion is that he should step down. That’s not the opinion of the board.”

The LA28 Olympics board of directors has stood by Wasserman, stating they reviewed the documents and support him remaining as chair.

There is no suggestion in the files of criminal wrongdoing by Wasserman, but he did show criminally bad judgment in flirting with Maxwell, who was renowned (along with Epstein) for connecting older men with young women and teens. She was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein, and in 2022, she was sentenced to 20 years. Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 but was found dead in his cell before his trial.

In a 2003 email exchange between Wasserman and Maxwell, he asked, “What do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” Then in a separate message, he asked, “Where are you, I miss you. I will be in nyc for 4 days starting april 22…can we book that massage now?”

Maxwell wrote back, “All that rubbing — are you sure you can take it?”

Stop reading here if you’re on the verge of vomiting.

Otherwise, continue: “There are a few spots that apparently drive a man wild — I suppose I could practise them on you.” Maxwell also mentioned being in Brazil, and when she asked Wasserman if he had ever been, he responded, “Never … take me!”

Revolting? Yes, but not quite as damning as other exchanges in the files between Epstein and men more powerful than Wasserman.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk repeatedly sought invitations to Epstein’s private island in 2012 and 2013, four to five years after the disgraced financier was convicted by a Florida state court of soliciting a prostitute and procuring a child for prostitution. Epstein served 13 months. His criminal past, however, didn’t seem to bother Musk, who wrote to Epstein in 2012, “Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what I’m looking for.”

Epstein responded, “Understood, I will see you on st Barth, the ratio on my island might make Talilah [Musk’s then-wife] uncomfortable.”

“Ratio is not a problem for Talulah,” Musk replied.

If only he’d caught half the heat as Wasserman, he might have retreated long enough to spare us from his juvenile X posts or his next monstrosity of a car design. (Let’s face it. The Tesla Cybertruck looks like a giant toenail clipper.)

Yet the American billionaires and influential cabal of men revealed to have had unsavory, immoral or potentially illegal dealings with Epstein and Maxwell have faced little to no consequences for their actions, unlike prominent figures in the U.K. and Europe who have suffered serious blowback.

Former Prince Andrew was stripped of his title and is now simply Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Booted out of his royal Windsor lodgings, was slumming it on the king’s private estate in Norfolk. He was arrested by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links with Epstein.

Peter Mandelson, the former British ambassador to the U.S., was fired over his relationship with Epstein. And Norway’s former prime minister, Thorbjørn Jagland, now faces charges over his connections with Epstein.

Here in the United States? By the power of redaction or redemption, Trump still holds office, as does U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the highest-ranking official other than the president to be prominently named in the Epstein files. Lutnick was grilled last week in a Senate hearing about his ties to the late financier and the fact that he visited Epstein’s island in 2012 with his family, despite previously claiming that he’d cut off contact with Epstein in 2005. Trump has stood by Lutnick.

Their varying levels of bad judgment and stupid behavior (at best) have gone largely unpunished. And as we learned during Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi’s hearing, the Justice Department has held “exactly zero powerful men” accountable.

Wasserman is the exception. The grandson of Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman, he has been a formidable Los Angeles sports and entertainment executive and founder of the Wasserman agency. Following the latest release of Epstein files, multiple artists and athletes including Chappell Roan, Abby Wambach and the Dropkick Murphys left the agency, citing ethical concerns. Wasserman announced last week that he is selling his agency, stating that he had “become a distraction” due to the public reveal of the Maxwell emails.

External pressure for him to step down from his lead role on the LA28 Olympic committee continues. Attorney Michael Carrillo, who has represented survivors of Epstein’s sex trafficking, called for the removal of Wasserman at a news conference in West Hollywood on Tuesday. Local elected officials, survivors and other activists also called on Bass, the LA28 board of directors and executive committee, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to remove Wasserman.

Wasserman, who was integral in the L.A. Olympics bid from its launch in 2015, maintains he had no contact with Maxwell or Epstein in the past 20 years. He said he deeply regrets his correspondence with Maxwell, “which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

It’s an apology with a “yeah, but …”

Perhaps Wasserman will resign and take the fall for cavorting over email with Maxwell. Meanwhile, the rest of America’s wealthy Epstein cabal continue to float above reproach, and reckoning.

The nation faces some tough questions following the unwittingly hilarious performance of U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi when she testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, among other things.

Viewers were left asking themselves if the over-the-top dramatics they witnessed were in fact a midweek “SNL” comedy sketch, with Amy Poehler playing Bondi. But on second thought, no one is better at playing the Entitled Mean Girl than Bondi herself.

Deflecting from questions about the DOJ’s mishandling of the Epstein files, Bondi for nearly five hours interrupted, scoffed and yelled at her bipartisan interrogators. She rolled her eyes at questions that annoyed her (i.e. most of the questions asked by Dems), praised President Trump at the weirdest of times, and hurled personalized insults she’d noted ahead of time in a “burn binder” (more on that later).

U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi appears before the House panel Wednesday as, behind her, survivors of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein respond to a question from the committee with a show of hands.

(Tom Brenner / Associated Press)

Bondi reserved her most dramatic how dare you! bellows for Democrats but did lash out at a few Republicans. Anyone who pressed her for transparency on the many questionable redactions in the Epstein documents risked a spiteful dressing down, including those who inquired if the DOJ was actively investigating any of the rich and powerful men involved in the disgraced financier’s sex trafficking enterprise.

She called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) “a washed-up loser lawyer,” referred to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as “a failed politician” and accused Jewish House member Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust, of being antisemitic.

When Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked how many of Epstein’s accomplices she had indicted, rather than tell the truth — which is none — she launched into a non-sequitur talking point about the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 50,000, the S&P 500 nearing 7,000 and the Nasdaq “smashing records” under President Trump. “You all should be apologizing,” Bondi said. “You sit here and you attack the president. I’m not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it!”

Poehler is talented, but how does anyone top that performance?

If only the hearing were a comedy skit. The hundreds if not thousands of young women who were victimized by Epstein deserve justice, and the many rich, powerful men involved in his criminal enterprise deserve to be held accountable. Bondi claimed there were “pending investigations” into the case but gave little more detail.

Seated in the audience behind Bondi were survivors and families of late survivors of the sex trafficking ring operated by Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. The women were recognized, with their permission, at the start of the hearing.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) later addressed the group of women: “To the survivors in the room, if you are willing, please stand.” All of them stood up.

“And if you are willing, please raise your hands if you have still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.” All of the women raised their hands.

Jayapal then addressed Bondi: “Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to the survivors in your opening statement for what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?”

Bondi did not face the survivors, instead replying: “I’m not going to get into the gutter with this woman doing theatrics.”

The committee repeatedly asked about numerous problems they’d found in the DOJ’s redactions of the Epstein files, including redacting the names of his suspected co-conspirators while not redacting the names or photos of some of the victims.

She snapped back at them, reminding the room that her DOJ had released more than 3 million documents, and proclaiming loudly, “Donald Trump is the most transparent president in the nation’s history!”

It was all those other guys who dropped the ball, according to Bondi. Why hadn’t former Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland or President Biden investigated the disgraced financier? Rep. Massie cut her off at the knees.

“This goes over four administrations,” he said. “You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion,” he said.

She accused Massie of suffering from “Trump derangement syndrome.”

Many of the personal attacks she launched at House members were prewritten in what’s become known as Bondi’s “burn binder,” a notebook filled with unflattering factoids about her inquisitors (she used a similar binder at a Senate hearing). Bondi referenced the guide with such frequency, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) joked that he’d like to see her “flip to the Jared Moskowitz section of the binder. I’m interested to see what staff provided on the [opposition research] on me.”

If “SNL” does decide to spin a sketch out of the most unprofessional testimony ever by a U.S. attorney general, how can it ever top the show we just saw?

A Congolese miner told Al Jazeera he saw his friends around him die as the mine they were working in collapsed in heavy rains, trapping dozens underground for hours. Rescuers pulled Grace Barata alive from the mud the following day.