USOPC Sidesteps Accountability as LA28 Leader Casey Wasserman Faces Epstein Ties Scrutiny

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is tiptoeing around the controversy surrounding Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizing committee, whose name surfaced in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation through flirtatious emails exchanged with Epstein’s convicted trafficker confidant Ghislaine Maxwell over 20 years ago.

At its quarterly meeting, USOPC chair Gene Sykes acknowledged the board’s concerns and said they are “closely monitoring the impact on our community.” Yet, he stopped short of calling for any action against Wasserman or even publicly questioning his leadership. Instead, Sykes deferred all decisions about Wasserman’s future to the LA28 board, effectively sidestepping accountability.

This hands-off stance is striking given the gravity of the Epstein scandal. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Epstein himself died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. The emails linking Wasserman to Maxwell, though described by LA organizers as “not going beyond what has already been publicly documented,” nevertheless raise serious questions about judgment and associations at the highest levels of Olympic leadership.

The LA28 committee has conducted its own investigation and cleared Wasserman to continue leading the Games, claiming the relationship was limited to the public record. But the USOPC’s refusal to weigh in meaningfully, despite overlapping board membership—including USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and members David Haggerty and Anita DeFrantz sitting on the LA28 board—signals a troubling reluctance to confront potential ethical breaches.

Sykes framed the USOPC’s role as “stewards of the Olympic and Paralympic movement in the United States,” committed to upholding its values. Yet, the lack of decisive action undermines that claim, especially when the organization pivots quickly to praising LA28’s progress on ticket sales and corporate support.

Ticket prices for the 2028 Games highlight another disconnect. The cheapest available tickets currently start at $170, with some medal events priced over $1,100, raising questions about accessibility and the Olympic movement’s commitment to inclusivity.

This episode exposes a pattern of institutions protecting powerful figures linked to Epstein’s network while offering only superficial gestures of concern. The USOPC’s unwillingness to hold Wasserman accountable reflects a broader failure to reckon with the toxic legacy of Epstein’s influence and the imperative for genuine transparency and integrity in leadership.

As the 2028 Olympics approach, the USOPC and LA28 face mounting pressure to demonstrate that their commitment to “values” extends beyond lip service to concrete actions that prioritize survivor justice and public trust over protecting elites. Until then, their credibility remains in serious doubt.