Jim Jordan is the worst expert on character
In his role as junkyard dog for Republicans in the impeachment inquiry, Jim Jordan gets lots of headlines for his adolescent outbursts against witnesses. One by one, he’s lashed out at every witness brought before the committee, questioning their veracity, credibility and character.
But Jordan’s the last person who should be questioning anybody else’s character, given his involvement in the biggest sexual abuse scandal ever to hit any American campus.
First there was Penn State, where assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys and is now serving 30 to 60 years in prison. The university later settled with 33 victims. But the worst of the scandal was word that head coach Joe Paterno and several college administrators had been warned of Sandusky’s behavior for years, yet did nothing.
Then there was Michigan State, where USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nasser was convicted of molesting 250 young women and one young man. The earliest Nasser could be released from federal prison is March 2069, at which time he’d be 105 years old. But, again, what made things even worse was learning that USA Gymnastics and Michigan State officials had heard many complaints about Nasser’s predatory behavior, but routinely dismissed them as hearsay. Like so many Catholic bishops, confronted with complaints about sexual predator priests, they simply looked the other way.
And now there’s Ohio State. In terms of sheer numbers of victims of sexual abuse, it’s the biggest and worst of all.
It’s the “Granddaddy of College Sexual Abuse,” and congressman Jordan is right in the middle of it — not accused of sexual abuse himself, but accused of being part of the cover-up.
Jordan was assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State from 1986 through 1994, during part of the time that Dr. Richard Strauss was the lead athletic department doctor, September 1978 to March 1998. During that time, according to an official May 2019 Ohio State investigation, Strauss, who committed suicide in 2005, is accused of abusing 177 male students. Yet that may be just the tip of the iceberg. Last month, Vice News reported that nearly 1,500 charges of sexual assault, in 15 varsity sports, had been filed against Strauss.
According to former students, Vice News reports, it was an “open secret” on campus that Strauss showered with wrestlers after matches and touched young men inappropriately during doctor’s appointments. Reportedly, university staff were aware of complaints of sexual abuse as early as 1979, but, again, no action was taken until 1996. And, reportedly, one of the university officials who was informed about Strauss, but did nothing, was assistant coach Jim Jordan.
Dunyasha Yetts, who wrestled at
Ohio State in 1993 and 1994, was the first to come forward and say that he had spoken directly to Jordan about Strauss. “I remember I had a thumb injury and went into Strauss’ office and he started pulling down my wrestling shorts,” he told investigators. “I’m like, what the (expletive) are you doing? And I went out and told Russ (Hellickson, head coach) and Jim what happened.” Michael DiSabato, another former wrestler, reported the same experience. “I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” he later 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.”
For his part, in true Trumpian fashion, Jordan denies ever hearing any complaints about Strauss. But that defense fell apart recently in yet another lawsuit filed against OSU. In this case, a former wrestling referee reports seeking out Jordan to complain that Strauss had masturbated in front of him in the shower. “Yeah, that’s Strauss,” Jordan reportedly shrugged.
Jordan followed up with a tweet that could have been written by Donald Trump: “I’ve stood up against the IRS, stood up against the FBI, stood up against Adam Schiff. ... The idea I’m not going to defend our athletes when I think they’re being harmed is ridiculous.” A classic non-denial denial.
Certainly, there are enough questions about his role at Ohio State that Jordan shouldn’t even be allowed to sit on a congressional panel. He should be sitting in a courtroom, instead, under oath, explaining and defending his failure to protect victims of sexual abuse. Meanwhile, couldn’t Republicans have found someone clean to be their impeachment pit bull?
Apparently not.