DOJ internal watchdog to review department’s compliance with Epstein Files Transparency Act

(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has called for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chair Casey Wasserman to step down following the release of the Hollywood mogul’s emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses.

Some flirtatious emails sent between Wasserman and Maxwell in 2003 surfaced through the Department of Justice’s release last month of millions of Epstein-related documents. They followed a previously known trip to Africa that Wasserman took on Epstein’s plane in 2002 alongside former President Bill Clinton for a humanitarian mission with the Clinton Foundation.

The LA28 Executive Committee of the Board said last week it stands by Wasserman after its review found that his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell “did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”

In an interview with CNN on Monday, Bass said she disagrees with the board.

“The board made a decision. I think that decision was unfortunate. I don’t support the decision,” Bass said. 

The mayor, who noted that she is not able to fire Wasserman, said she thinks that “we need to look at the leadership” of LA28 and that her job is to ensure the city is “completely prepared” to host the Summer Olympics.

Wasserman heads LA28, the organizing committee responsible for delivering the 2028 Games, including securing corporate sponsors and other funding. He was previously the LA Olympic Bid Committee president.

“My opinion is, is that he should step down,” Bass said. “That’s not the opinion of the board.”

ABC News has reached out to Wasserman’s spokesperson and LA28 for comment regarding Bass’ remarks and has not yet received a response.

Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein in 2021.

In the newly publicized emails, sent nearly 20 years before Maxwell’s arrest, Wasserman told her in one exchange, “I think of you all the time… So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

Since the emails came to light, Wasserman’s eponymous sports marketing and talent management company has lost several clients, including the singers Chappell Roan and Orville Peck and the former soccer player Abby Wambach.

Wasserman apologized for what he called his “past personal mistakes” in a message to his staff last week obtained by ABC News through his spokesperson.

“Hopefully by now you know the facts about my limited interactions with those two individuals,” he said. “It was years before their criminal conduct came to light, and, in its entirety, consisted of one humanitarian trip to Africa and a handful of emails that I deeply regret sending. And I’m heartbroken that my brief contact with them 23 years ago has caused you, this company, and its clients so much hardship over the past days and weeks.”

Wasserman said in his message to his staff that he believes he has become a “distraction” and has started the process to sell his company while he devotes his “full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city.”

The LA28 Executive Committee of the Board said last week that it “takes allegations of misconduct seriously” and conducted a review of Wasserman’s past interactions with Epstein and Maxwell with the help of outside counsel. 

“We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented,” the board said in a statement, citing the 2002 flight to Africa on Epstein’s plane and the 2003 emails with Maxwell.   

“The Executive Committee of the Board has determined that based on these facts, as well as the strong leadership he has exhibited over the past ten years, Mr. Wasserman should continue to lead LA28 and deliver a safe and successful Games,” the board said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Washington, D.C., Bar has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin over allegations he improperly threatened to withhold federal funding from Georgetown University’s law school and then attempted to sideline an investigation into his conduct, according to a petition.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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(CLEVELAND) — A 28-year-old woman has been arrested days after the bodies of two girls were found in suitcases in a field in Cleveland, police announced Thursday.

The Cleveland Division of Police did not say what charges the suspect was arrested on in connection with the suspected homicides, noting that the woman is expected to be formally charged later Thursday. Her name will be released at that point, police said.

Detectives began investigating the deaths on Monday, following the “horrific” discovery, according to Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd.

An individual spotted one of the bodies inside a suitcase while walking a dog in a residential neighborhood on Monday evening and reported it to police, according to Todd.

Responding officers located a second body in another suitcase nearby, Todd said. Both suitcases were in a shallow grave in a field near a school, she said.

One of the girls is suspected to have been between the ages of 8 1/2 and 13, and the second between 10 1/2 and 14, Todd said. They have been determined to be half-siblings, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday.

It was unclear how long the girls had been at the location, just that “it was some time,” and that there were no clear indicators of the cause of death, Todd told reporters Tuesday.

“This is a traumatic event for our officers, for the community,” Todd said.

The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, and the medical examiner’s office is continuing to work to officially identify the children, police said Thursday.

The investigation led detectives to execute a search warrant at a residence located within a block of the field on Wednesday, where they “recovered substantial evidence related to the case,” the Cleveland Division of Police said.

A person of interest was detained on Wednesday, with Cleveland Police Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz telling reporters it was a “significant break” in the case.

Todd said in a statement Thursday that “careful and methodical work” in the case “allowed our detectives to develop the evidence needed to make quick identification of a person of interest, ultimately resulting in an arrest.”

A child located inside the searched home has been taken into custody by the county’s Department of Children and Family Services, police said. The child appeared to be in good health, police said.

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