LA Olympic chief 'deeply regrets' flirty Maxwell emails in Epstein files

LOS ANGELES, United States — Los Angeles Olympics chief Casey Wasserman apologized on Saturday after decades-old flirty emails between him and Jeffrey Epstein's jailed former girlfriend appeared in a fresh cache of files related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender.

Wasserman, the chairman of the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, said his 2003 email exchanges with Ghislaine Maxwell -- who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein -- took place before her crimes were known.

"I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light," Wasserman, 51, said in a statement obtained by AFP.

Wasserman's emails to Maxwell were among millions of new pages released from the Epstein files by the US Justice Department on Friday, adding fresh fuel to the politically explosive case that has dogged President Donald Trump.

In his statement on Saturday, Wasserman emphasized that he had "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," Wasserman said.

"I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them."

Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 after being convicted the previous year of helping Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse underage victims. Federal prosecutors said Maxwell had helped procure girls -- some as young as 14 -- for Epstein between 1994 and around 2004.

Epstein took his own life in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell was arrested and charged for her crimes in 2020.