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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during a live television broadcast on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
'Yeah, Yeah, We Know': Top Trump Defender Jim Jordan Under Renewed Fire for Dismissing Complaints of Sexual Molestation
Jordan and another coach reportedly responded to credible claims of harassment with, "Yeah, yeah, we know."
Nov 07, 2019
Rep. Jim Jordan is expected to be assigned to the House Intelligence Committee, GOP sources said Friday--less than 24 hours after the Ohio Republican was again implicated in a lawsuit of looking the other way over two decades ago at credible allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of students during his tenure as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
As CBS News reported, Jordan's appointment to the committee marks the elevation of a zealous defender of President Donald Trump against the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry.
"Ironic that Jim Jordan is spending so much time defending the president from credible accusations when he really should be spending that time defending himself from very credible accusations," tweeted The Intercept's Medhi Hasan.
The newest allegations against Jordan are part of a lawsuit filed Thursday by a university referee, according to NBC News. In the suit, the referee--identified as John Doe 42--claims that Dr. Richard Strauss, a notorious abuser of male athletes at the school for years, masturbated in front of Doe in a locker room shower in 1994. When Doe reported the harassment to Jordan, Jordan and then-head coach Russ Hellickson replied by saying, "Yeah, yeah, we know."
Strauss, who died in 2005, was found in a university-led internal investigation in May to have abused at least 177 students over almost two decades. The report's findings indicated that a number of the coaching staff, including Jordan, knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Jordan has long denied any knowledge of the abuse or involvement in any cover-up. The congressman's spokesperson Ian Fury reiterated those denials to The Washington Post Friday.
"Congressman Jordan never saw or heard of any kind of sexual abuse, and if he had he would've dealt with it," said Fury. "Multiple investigations have confirmed this simple fact."
Doe told NBC News that he doesn't believe Jordan's denials and that it's time for the Ohio congressman to come clean.
"It was common knowledge what Strauss was doing so the attitude was it is what it is," said Doe. "I wish Jim, and Russ, too, would stand up and do the right thing and admit they knew what Strauss was doing, because everybody knew what he was doing to the wrestlers. What was a shock to me is that Strauss tried to do that to me. He was breaking new ground by going after a ref."
The new allegations led former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance to note the difference in how the GOP is treating the Jordan accusations and how Democrats have been treated in similar scandals.
"Katie Hill resigned over a consensual affair with a staffer. Bill Clinton was impeached," tweeted Vance. "Jim Jordan stood by silently while tens if not hundreds of young men entrusted to his care as their coach were subjected to sexual abuse and did nothing."
Jodi Jacobson, a feminist activist and writer, took to Twitter to call out Jordan for being a "projector and deflector," referring to the congressman's incessant attacks on Democrats while denying the mounting allegations from his days at Ohio State.
"Take responsibility for your own shit and stop making up shit about other people to deflect from your own evil," said Jacobson.
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Rep. Jim Jordan is expected to be assigned to the House Intelligence Committee, GOP sources said Friday--less than 24 hours after the Ohio Republican was again implicated in a lawsuit of looking the other way over two decades ago at credible allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of students during his tenure as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
As CBS News reported, Jordan's appointment to the committee marks the elevation of a zealous defender of President Donald Trump against the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry.
"Ironic that Jim Jordan is spending so much time defending the president from credible accusations when he really should be spending that time defending himself from very credible accusations," tweeted The Intercept's Medhi Hasan.
The newest allegations against Jordan are part of a lawsuit filed Thursday by a university referee, according to NBC News. In the suit, the referee--identified as John Doe 42--claims that Dr. Richard Strauss, a notorious abuser of male athletes at the school for years, masturbated in front of Doe in a locker room shower in 1994. When Doe reported the harassment to Jordan, Jordan and then-head coach Russ Hellickson replied by saying, "Yeah, yeah, we know."
Strauss, who died in 2005, was found in a university-led internal investigation in May to have abused at least 177 students over almost two decades. The report's findings indicated that a number of the coaching staff, including Jordan, knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Jordan has long denied any knowledge of the abuse or involvement in any cover-up. The congressman's spokesperson Ian Fury reiterated those denials to The Washington Post Friday.
"Congressman Jordan never saw or heard of any kind of sexual abuse, and if he had he would've dealt with it," said Fury. "Multiple investigations have confirmed this simple fact."
Doe told NBC News that he doesn't believe Jordan's denials and that it's time for the Ohio congressman to come clean.
"It was common knowledge what Strauss was doing so the attitude was it is what it is," said Doe. "I wish Jim, and Russ, too, would stand up and do the right thing and admit they knew what Strauss was doing, because everybody knew what he was doing to the wrestlers. What was a shock to me is that Strauss tried to do that to me. He was breaking new ground by going after a ref."
The new allegations led former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance to note the difference in how the GOP is treating the Jordan accusations and how Democrats have been treated in similar scandals.
"Katie Hill resigned over a consensual affair with a staffer. Bill Clinton was impeached," tweeted Vance. "Jim Jordan stood by silently while tens if not hundreds of young men entrusted to his care as their coach were subjected to sexual abuse and did nothing."
Jodi Jacobson, a feminist activist and writer, took to Twitter to call out Jordan for being a "projector and deflector," referring to the congressman's incessant attacks on Democrats while denying the mounting allegations from his days at Ohio State.
"Take responsibility for your own shit and stop making up shit about other people to deflect from your own evil," said Jacobson.
Rep. Jim Jordan is expected to be assigned to the House Intelligence Committee, GOP sources said Friday--less than 24 hours after the Ohio Republican was again implicated in a lawsuit of looking the other way over two decades ago at credible allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of students during his tenure as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University.
As CBS News reported, Jordan's appointment to the committee marks the elevation of a zealous defender of President Donald Trump against the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry.
"Ironic that Jim Jordan is spending so much time defending the president from credible accusations when he really should be spending that time defending himself from very credible accusations," tweeted The Intercept's Medhi Hasan.
The newest allegations against Jordan are part of a lawsuit filed Thursday by a university referee, according to NBC News. In the suit, the referee--identified as John Doe 42--claims that Dr. Richard Strauss, a notorious abuser of male athletes at the school for years, masturbated in front of Doe in a locker room shower in 1994. When Doe reported the harassment to Jordan, Jordan and then-head coach Russ Hellickson replied by saying, "Yeah, yeah, we know."
Strauss, who died in 2005, was found in a university-led internal investigation in May to have abused at least 177 students over almost two decades. The report's findings indicated that a number of the coaching staff, including Jordan, knew about the abuse but did nothing.
Jordan has long denied any knowledge of the abuse or involvement in any cover-up. The congressman's spokesperson Ian Fury reiterated those denials to The Washington Post Friday.
"Congressman Jordan never saw or heard of any kind of sexual abuse, and if he had he would've dealt with it," said Fury. "Multiple investigations have confirmed this simple fact."
Doe told NBC News that he doesn't believe Jordan's denials and that it's time for the Ohio congressman to come clean.
"It was common knowledge what Strauss was doing so the attitude was it is what it is," said Doe. "I wish Jim, and Russ, too, would stand up and do the right thing and admit they knew what Strauss was doing, because everybody knew what he was doing to the wrestlers. What was a shock to me is that Strauss tried to do that to me. He was breaking new ground by going after a ref."
The new allegations led former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance to note the difference in how the GOP is treating the Jordan accusations and how Democrats have been treated in similar scandals.
"Katie Hill resigned over a consensual affair with a staffer. Bill Clinton was impeached," tweeted Vance. "Jim Jordan stood by silently while tens if not hundreds of young men entrusted to his care as their coach were subjected to sexual abuse and did nothing."
Jodi Jacobson, a feminist activist and writer, took to Twitter to call out Jordan for being a "projector and deflector," referring to the congressman's incessant attacks on Democrats while denying the mounting allegations from his days at Ohio State.
"Take responsibility for your own shit and stop making up shit about other people to deflect from your own evil," said Jacobson.
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