Jim Jordan Continues to Deny Knowledge of Abuse During Coaching Tenure

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, would not answer if he believed wrestlers he coached experienced abuse at the hands of a school doctor in a new interview.

“I mean you’d have to ask them. I don’t know any of it,” Jordan, who has lost three different elections for House speaker in the last week, told The Washington Post.

Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1987 to 1995, during which time a 2018 university investigation concluded school doctor, Richard Strauss, had engaged in serial sexual abuse of athletes, particularly wrestlers. Jordan has consistently denied knowledge of the abuse.

The Washington Post interviewed eleven former wrestlers from when Jordan coached at Ohio State, eight of whom said they remember the abuse being discussed with or in front of Jordan.

Jordan entered politics after leaving Ohio State and has seen his politics profile rise over the years, recently being chosen by the Republican conference in the Republican-controlled House to be their nominee for speaker. He has now lost three floor votes for the speakership.