Tonight, the West Hollywood City Council is set to move Item F3: a resolution by the City of West Hollywood calling for the resignation of Casey Wasserman as Chair of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Organizing Committee.
The resolution brought forward by Councilmembers John Erickson and Chelsea Byers is an assault on a basic American principle: that every person has a right to due process and that every person is innocent until proven guilty.
Wasserman’s sin was having his name included in the Epstein Files.
Wasserman flew with President Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane — with his then wife Laura – traveling to several African countries to promote HIV/AIDS research. A few months after the trip, he exchanged emails with Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is a convicted pedophile and is currently in prison. Casey Wasserman has not been accused of any crime.
In one email exchange with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, the infatuated 28-year-old told her, “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” There is zero evidence that Casey Wasserman had any awareness of Maxwell’s behavior uncovered more than a decade later.
Another email exchange reveals their relationship: “Where are you, I miss you,” he wrote, and inquired about a massage for an upcoming trip to New York. But an independent legal review found no evidence Wasserman was part of anything criminal, and no victim has ever come forward connecting him to any misconduct.
Twenty-year-old emails. A massage. A flirtation. No crime. No victim. No relevance to a single problem facing West Hollywood today.
The LA28 Olympic Organizing Committee Board of Directors can decide if Wasserman needs to be removed, or is doing his job. And guess what? They have. The board hired outside counsel O’Melveny & Myers LLP to conduct an independent review of Wasserman’s past interactions with Maxwell and Epstein. Wasserman fully cooperated. The board’s conclusion: “We found Mr. Wasserman’s relationship with Epstein and Maxwell did not go beyond what has already been publicly documented.”
The West Hollywood City Council’s move to disrupt the Olympics is more about political grandstanding then serving WeHo residents. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath made her move to the front of the TV cameras asking for Wasserman’s removal and her minions followed. Horvath is still pulling the strings in West Hollywood. Her Deputy Director of Community Affairs is Austin Cyr, Councilmember Byers’ partner, with Councilmember Erickson being the third member of this cartel.
It is worth noting that the LA28 board’s independent review concluded on February 11th. Councilmembers Erickson and Byers held their press conference in West Hollywood Park six days later, on February 17, announcing tonight’s resolution. They weren’t responding to new evidence. The review was already done. Wasserman was already cleared. They just didn’t like the answer.
Former Councilmember John Duran’s actions were far worse. He was forced to resign from the Mayor’s seat and was forced to resign from the Gay Men’s Chorus after multiple members accused him of sexual misconduct. One member, named Jason Tong, stated that Duran had put his hands on the inside of Tong’s underwear. And then in an interview, Duran stated, “He’s a skinny Korean kid with pimples on his cheek.” About a month or so ago you may have caught Councilmember Danny Hang at a private lunch with John Duran. Should Councilmember Hang resign for fraternizing with Duran? I asked Danny about what could easily be seen as a double standard and he replied, “I have a duty to meet with all constituents, whether they support me or not.” What about Lauren Meister? She’s a fair player. But Lauren knows when the cake is baked, so this is not a hill she will die on. But she should. John Heilman? The law professor abandoning the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution?
If this Council wants to be taken seriously as a defender of civil liberties and equal justice, it starts right here at home, with due process, and the bedrock principle that every person is innocent until proven guilty. There isn’t even a crime alleged. There is no call for Wasserman to testify to Congress. Casey Wasserman is not a distraction to the Olympics, this item is a distraction to the regular business of the West Hollywood City Council as well as the work being done to make the Olympics successful.
Then of course there is the ambitious John Erickson. He is willing to destroy anybody for his own political gain. He did some of Horvath’s bidding in her 2022 run for County Supervisor, often calling Bob Hertzberg “hands on,” inferring the man gropes women, or “big oil” Bob in an effort to diminish his character. Now Erickson is riding Epstein’s coattails. There are no victims. There is no crime. There is only John Erickson, looking for his next camera.
We’ll leave it at this: materials of a personal nature regarding Councilmember Erickson have been shared widely, including with me. I have to believe the City Attorney, other members of the Council, local blogs and other media outlets have seen them too. All have chosen silence. WEHOonline made the same choice, refusing not to traffic in the politics of personal destruction over what many might consider private indiscretions. Apparently that’s a one-way street. Erickson has no such reservations when the target isn’t him. It seems he wants everyone to look the other way for JE, (not Jeffrey Epstein).
I’ve never met Casey Wasserman. Until this year I couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup. But the record is the record. He led the bid that brought the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles. He pushed the IOC to allow athlete protests and anti-racist advocacy on the Olympic stage, values West Hollywood claims to champion. The Wasserman Foundation has put millions into HIV/AIDS prevention, into underserved LA schools, into communities that needed the help. This is the man West Hollywood’s City Council wants to destroy over twenty-year-old emails. This does not make sense.
Casey Wasserman has not been charged with a crime. He has not been convicted of anything. The LA28 board conducted an independent review and cleared him. Yet the West Hollywood City Council is ready to torch his career and reputation. That’s not accountability. That’s hypocrisy, including the staged press conference in the park.
West Hollywood residents deserve a Council focused on making this city safer, more affordable, and more livable. Instead, they seem more focused on issues outside of West Hollywood. But then again, it’s County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath who is still pulling the strings in WeHo. Any surprise?
Where was Council’s outrage that LACMA hasn’t removed him from their board? Where is Pride House’s stance/support behind West Hollywood’s request? What if he isn’t removed? Will the city still want to profit off the Olympics and host events even though they ask for his resignation? Appalled that we judged Casey Wasserman on simply the fact he knew Epstein and Maxwell. The argument that he is a distraction for the athletes and the Olympics is a sad commentary of how he was judged
Just what does Horvath stand to gain by her grandstanding? Sure more exposure on yet another TV news broadcast, but there must be more to it. I don’t know and can only guess it’s another in the episode of “follow the money”.
Weho’s city council’s opinion (or that of its former members) are as unimportant in this matter as it would be in a discussion about adding a new terminal at LAX.
“Opinions are like”….. you know the rest.
If they paid attention to issues for which they were elected, we might have a city that more of its residents would actually enjoy. You know, like we used to.
This is just so typical of “progressive” virtue signaling. There is nothing in the Epstein files that implicate Wasserman in the sort of horrific conduct that many others, (most likely including Donald Trump), engaged in. But everyone is quick to throw the first stone if they feel they can gain some political advantage. But this is how the “social justice” cult works; they need constant affirmation that they are morally superior, just like the Christian Nationalist they deplore.
Thanks, Larry. Spot on! Beyers and Erickson should focus on West Hollywood’s many problems instead of grandstanding to advance their political careers. Coming from Erickson is even more egregious, the epitome of corruption daring to shame others without proof. Vote them out!
Thank you, Larry. I agree with you 100% and applaud your bravery for being forthright and methodical in your defense of Wasserman. I too, believe that Wasserman should remain the head of LA28. As for the other JE… he is a grifting soulless conniver without principle that hooks on to whatever/whomever moves him up the ladder; similar in ways to the other JE.