Kinda Seems Like Jim Jordan Is Full of Shit
Former Ohio State wrestlers are accusing Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a right-wing former leader of the Freedom Caucus who was rumored to be considering a run for House Republican leader when Paul Ryan retires from Congress, reportedly ignored sexual abuse by the team doctor when he was a coach. And Jordan is denying it.
In April, Ohio State announced that it was investigating allegations that former team doctor Richard Strauss (who died in 2005) abused wrestlers over the course of two decades, from the 1970s to the 1990s. Jordan, according to NBC News, was an assistant coach for the program from 1986 to 1994.
Per NBC News:
Three former wrestlers told NBC News that it was common knowledge that Strauss showered regularly with the students and inappropriately touched them during appointments, and said it would have been impossible for Jordan to be unaware; one wrestler said he told Jordan directly about the abuse.
Former head coach Russ Hellickson, Jordan’s mentor, said in a recent video — made by Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler — that Hellickson had told Strauss that he was being too “hands on” with students.
“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” DiSabato told NBC News. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.” DiSabato also said that when he told Jordan about his plan to come forward with his story, Jordan told him to “please leave me out of it.”