Jim Jordan 'tensed up' during WaPo grilling on wrestling doc's 'disturbing behaviors'

Less than a day after Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) abandoned his bid to become the new speaker of the House after multiple failed votes, the Washington Post dropped a deep dive into his days as a wrestler and wrestling coach at Ohio State that includes new allegations that he was silent about sexual abuse.

The report from the WaPo's David Maraniss and Sally Jenkins notes that the Ohio Republican "tensed up during questioning" about Dr. Richard Strauss, who was accused of sexually assaulting athletes over two decades according to a university internal investigation.

As the Post's report states, Jordan, "fell back on his mantra-like denial. 'Every single coach has said the same thing I have, countless wrestlers have said the same thing I have, and other athletes,' he insisted, adding: 'If there would have been something wrong, I’d have done something, okay?' he said. 'There wasn’t. That I knew of.'"

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However, as the new report states, in interviews with wrestlers at Ohio State during Jordan's time there, more than a few stated they believed Jordan was aware of what was going on with Strauss or had at least heard about it.

According to the report, "The Post interviewed 11 former wrestlers from the Jordan era at Ohio State who saidStrauss used medical exams to perpetrate molestations or worse. Eight said they had clear recollections of team members protesting Strauss’s conduct either directly to Jordan or within Jordan’s range of hearing. All considered it inconceivable that Jordan did not know about Strauss’s disturbing behaviors."

The Post reports that, in an interview about the accusations, Jordan had a case of the jitters, his foot bouncing up and down when discussing the topic.

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"This was most apparent when Jordan was asked to explain his actions concerning the wrestling scandal, " Jenkins and Maraniss wrote before adding, "In addition to the wrestlers who challenged his account, Andy Geiger, a former athletic director at Ohio State, told The Post that while Jordan had 'no culpability whatsoever' in the Strauss scandal, he does not believe the congressman’s categorical denials. 'To say that you didn’t know or were totally unaware is not credible,'" he said.

You can read much more about Jim Jordan's wrestling history here here.