Jim Jordan continues to be in the news and few are buying his “I knew nothing” defense:
Cleveland Plain-Dealer: No more denials. Jim Jordan must acknowledge what he knew: editorial
… If Strauss' behavior was widely enough known to arise in conversations with student athletes, that amounts to "knowing." And "knowing" requires "reporting."
Jim Jordan needs to do a gut check and reconsider his denials. Denials in the teeth of compelling evidence can backfire -- witness Joe Paterno at Penn State, and the officials being investigated at Michigan State.
And the evidence is compelling. One former wrestler, Dunyasha Yetts, told NBC News that he and others on the team repeatedly spoke to Jordan about Strauss' actions. …
Washington Post: Allegations against Jim Jordan strike at the wrestling persona he has carefully cultivated
… Now Jordan is the one under withering scrutiny as he faces multiple accusations that he knew or should have known about the alleged sexual misconduct of a doctor who worked with the Ohio State wrestling team when Jordan was an assistant coach there between 1986 and 1995.
He has reacted to the charges with the same combative persona he has cultivated for years — denying he knew anything and aggressively counterattacking by raising questions about the motives of the former wrestlers who have come forward to describe the abuse. ...
… But it could be a perilous approach, with Jordan’s critics pointing out he has rarely given others the benefit of the doubt he is now expecting. Even his defenders acknowledge there were problems in the athletic program while Jordan was working there, and
the state’s attorney general office, overseen by Republican Mike DeWine, is examining “acts of sexual misconduct” in several of the school’s sports programs.
Jordan has given himself little room to maneuver.
“He’s a person who has always said everybody — Oh, my gosh, if you look at his record. ‘So and so should have known this, so and so should have known that, so and so should have known that,’ ” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday. “Well, many people say that he did know, and by his own standard, he should have known.” …
CNN: Pelosi: 'Jim Jordan had a duty to protect' Ohio State wrestlers
"Jim Jordan had a duty to protect them," she said in her first comments about the scandal. "They said he failed. They, the people who are accusing, said he failed. Rather than deny and dismiss them, he should fully cooperate with the investigation." …
… Weighing in on the matter, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona reflected on scandals within his own party. "Those were dispelled with quickly and dealt with. And many of them on less information than what we have about Jordan," he told CNN.
Grijalva called on Republican leaders to begin an ethics review. "And whether it offends a part of their caucus or not, it has to be dealt with," he said. …
For a man often saluted for his brashness and willingness to speak truth to power, it is ironic to see Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio — a politician known to have greater ambitions like becoming the next Speaker of the House — ensnared in a scandal that effectively claims that, when he was presented with the opportunity to serve as both leader and hero, he instead chose silence and complicity.
But then again, the influential congressman and his cohorts are currently behaving in ways that are both beneath the dignity of their offices and contribute to the culture that prevents victims — especially male victims — of sexual violence from speaking out. …
Vox: Meet the Democrat trying to unseat scandal-plagued Rep. Jim Jordan in his heavily Republican district
Meet Democrat Janet Garrett, the retired teacher and former union leader who is trying for the third time to unseat Rep. Jim Jordan, the conservative lawmaker who continues to fight allegations that he turned a blind eye to rampant sexual abuse at Ohio State in the 1990s.
Garrett lost to Jordan in Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District by 35 points in 2014. She lost by 36 points in 2016, when the district went for Donald Trump by a wide margin. Garrett is running an uphill battle; projection models expect her to lose and the district is rated “safely Republican.”
But she says everything has changed in 2018; Trump’s win was a call for new faces in Washington, and Democrats have found success this year in places where Trump won by wide margins less than two years ago. Garrett has raised just shy of $200,000 in campaign contributions, according to her campaign manager Zachary Stepp ...