Powerful Republican Rep. Jim Jordan now stands accused by at least seven former athletes of knowing about but turning a blind eye to sexual abuse during his tenure as assistant coach of Ohio State University's wrestling team. The most recent athlete to come forward states that he told Jordan directly of an episode of abuse and that Jordan "just snickered" and stated he had "nothing to do with this."
As the evidence mounts against him, Jordan is of course taking the opportunity to publicly reflect on the importance of taking sexual assault seriously and—yeah, just kidding. He has of course hired a conservative crisis management team to declare that his accusers are all liars and to set up a Stand With Roy Moore Jim Jordan website. But mostly to insist that his accusers are all liars.
Its first major action on behalf of Jordan (R-Ohio) came Monday as the firm’s president, Diana Banister, circulated a statement from former Ohio State wrestling coaches saying that if Jordan had known about alleged abuse, he would have taken action.
It should perhaps be noted that those former Ohio State wrestling coaches defending Jordan's honor are possibly more invested in protecting themselves from upcoming lawsuits than protecting Jordan specifically; if the athletes' more sordid claims are true and university adults used their locker room regularly to stoke their own perversions, each of those coaches may face accusations of their own.
As for Jordan himself, the high-ranking Republican kingpin has been a sleazy grifting twit throughout his career and isn't about to grow a wee bud of dignity at this late date. He has decided his best defense is the one crafted by the Pervert In Chief when his own sex scandals surfaced, the catch-all claim in which all negative news against the party or the party's leaders is fake, just because it is, that's why.
Ah, Jim Jordan. The man wouldn't know class if class walked up and asked him to dance. How dare you thoroughly investigate the accusations against me is not the protestations of an innocent man; it is more often the protestation of someone who knows that a speedy survey of the hundred or so people who know him best is pretty certain to make his situation worse.