Ohio lawmaker wants to force Jim Jordan to testify in OSU sex abuse case: ‘He’s been accused of failing to act’

An Ohio state lawmaker wants to force Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to testify under oath to discover what he knew about wrestlers he coached who were sexually abused by a team doctor at Ohio State University.

State Rep. Tavia Galonski (D-Akron) intends to ask a committee chair to subpoena the powerful GOP congressman, who has denied knowledge of sexual abuse by Dr. Richard Strauss, during a hearing on legislation that would allow the physician's victims to sue the university, reported NBC News.

“What did you know and when did you know it?” Galonski said she wanted to ask Jordan. “He hasn’t been accused of anything criminal, but he’s been accused of failing to act. I view it as a chance for him to clear his name.”

Jordan, a strong congressional ally of President Donald Trump, served as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State between 1986 and 1994.

The committee chair, Republican state Rep. Stephen Hambley, ruled Galonski's motion out of order for procedural reasons, but the Democratic lawmaker intends to try again.

“Obviously a subpoena is like salt -- you use it sparingly,” said Galonski, a lawyer and former magistrate in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. “But I don’t believe Congressman Jordan would come forward on his own.”