House Republicans say they don’t believe Rep. Jordan ignored sexual abuse
CQ-Roll Call
WASHINGTON — Honest, honorable and trustworthy — these are all attributes House Republicans have ascribed to Rep. Jim Jordan as they’ve reacted skeptically to allegations that the Freedom Caucus founder ignored sexual abuse while an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who like Mr. Jordan are considered potential candidates to replace retiring Speaker Paul Ryan, were among those who defendedMr. Jordan.
“Jim and I came into Congress together 12 years ago and I have always found him to be a good and honest man. I believe Jim when he says if faced with charges of abuse, he absolutely would have acted,” Mr. McCarthy said in a statement that also noted he is glad an investigation is underway.
“I have always known Jim Jordan to be honest, and I’m confident he would stand up for his athletes, just like he’s always stood up for what’s right,” Mr. Scalise said in a statement. “I’m glad that Jim is committed to working with the investigators to see that the full truth comes out and justice is served.”
While House members were away from Washington for the July 4 recess, NBC issued a report citing three former Ohio State wrestlers who said Mr. Jordan had to have known Richard Strauss, a doctor who worked with several athletic teams at the school, acted inappropriately toward, and in some cases sexually abused, wrestlers he treated. In April, the university launched an investigation into the allegations against Dr. Strauss, who died in 2005.
Since the NBC report, a few other former wrestlers have since raised similar claims in other media reports, while other former wrestlers and coaches have come to Mr. Jordan’s defense. But even some of Mr. Jordan’s defenders say it was fairly widespread knowledge that Dr. Strauss inappropriately looked at and sometimes touched genitalia of the male athletes.
Mr. Jordan has vehemently denied the allegations that he knew something and didn’t report it.
“It’s false,” he said Friday on Fox News. “I mean I never saw, never heard of, never was told about any type of abuse. If I had been, I would have dealt with it. Our coaching staff — we would have dealt with it.”
Mr. Jordan also denied hearing of any type of abuse in the wrestling locker room, even though several of the former wrestlers said they frequently joked about having to pull down their pants if they had to visit Dr. Strauss for any medical issue, even if it did not involve their lower region.
But in the same interview, Mr. Jordan also sought to draw a distinction between locker room talk and allegations of abuse.
“Conversations in the locker room are a lot different than someone coming up to you and saying there was some kind of abuse.” he said. “If there had been that, we would have dealt with it.”
Defenders in the GOP
Several of Mr. Jordan’s colleagues in the Freedom Caucus were among the first House Republicans to come to his defense, with at least nine of the three dozen conservatives in the group issuing statements or tweets over the past week.
“I have always known Jim Jordan to be a man of the utmost character, honor, and integrity,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said in a statement. “As the independent investigation is concluded, I’m confident people will learn the truth and it will confirm all he has said about the situation. I’m proud to stand by Jim Jordan and support him 100 percent.”
Freedom Caucus allies Matt Gaetz and Thomas Massie were also quick to defend Mr. Jordan.
“I support Jim Jordan,” Mr. Massie tweeted Sunday. “He has tremendous integrity. I have faith in the American people and I believe most recognize a baseless smear campaign they see it. And no, I’m not even a member of the Freedom Caucus.”
As House Republicans returned to Washington on Tuesday, more members defended Mr. Jordan.
“I trust Jim,” Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, GOP Conference vice chairman, said. “Jim says it’s nothing.”
Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said he hadn’t talked to Mr. Jordan but noted, “I tend to believe Jim Jordan is an honest person who wouldn’t accept that if it was happening around him.”
Fellow Ohio Republican Steve Stivers, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, called Mr. Jordan “honorable” and “truthful.”
“I don’t think he would make things up but I want to make sure the truth comes out,” Mr. Stivers said, citing theuniversity’s investigation.
Perkins Coie conspiracy?
While most House Republicans defended Mr. Jordan by saying the allegations do not align with his character, Mr. Jordan and some of his allies in the Freedom Caucus raised suspicions about the origin of the allegations.
“I think the timing is suspect from when you think about how this whole story came together after the Rosenstein interview … with this whole talk about the speaker’s race,” Mr. Jordan said.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing June 28, Mr. Jordan had grilled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about the Department of Justice’s failure to fully comply with a congressional document request related to alleged FBI abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The law firm Ohio State hired to conduct the investigation into Dr. Strauss has contracted Perkins Coie LLP, a firm the Democratic National Committee hired to help put together the dossier the FBI used to obtain a FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page.
“The timing of these allegations, coming 13 years after the doctor died, combined with the questionable background of the accusers, and involving the counsel for the DNC, makes one thing clear: These are mere political statements intended to smear a good man,” Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar said in a statement.
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert also raised the Perkins Coie connection in his statement defending Mr. Jordan.
“These former wrestlers were adults at the time they claim they were sexually abused by the Ohio State team doctor. … They specifically state they did not tell Jordan but instead say he should have known because there was talk around the locker room,” he said. “They waited over 20 years to make these allegations with the willing and very expensive assistance of Perkins Coie, a Washington, D.C.-based dirty tricks law firm.”
Mr. Jordan said in the Fox interview he doesn’t think there’s any conspiracy involving Perkins Coie, but said they used a nonexistent email address in trying to reach him for an interview for the Ohio State investigation.
Mr. Jordan said he has since been in touch with the investigators and that he is expecting to talk to them this week.
PR firm pitches in
Meanwhile, a conservative crisis communications firm also is pitching in to help Mr. Jordan fight claims he turned a blind eye to alleged sexual abuse.
Shirley & Banister Public Affairs, based in Alexandria, Va., is known for representing conservative figures and nonprofits seeking to push their views in the national political debate. Its first major action on Mr. Jordan’s behalf came Monday, as president Diana Banister circulated a statement from former Ohio State wrestling coaches saying that if Mr. Jordan had known about alleged abuse, he would have taken action.
The firm on Tuesday sent the news media statements and reported quotes from 15 former wrestlers saying they believed Mr. Jordan when he said he knew nothing about alleged groping and other misconductby Dr. Strauss.
“I feel that Jim is a very honest and ethical person and always acted in the best interest of our teammates. I feel that trying to make this political in any way devalues even more the people who were personally affected by this,” stated former OSU wrestler Lenny Schork.
It is unclear who is paying for the effort.