Former Ohio State Wrestlers Accuse GOP Rep Jim Jordan of 'Lying' When He Claimed No Knowledge of Team Doctor's Abuse

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is facing accusations from former wrestlers at Ohio State University claiming he turned a blind eye toward a team doctor who molested them and other students, NBC News reports.

The athletes say Jordan, the former assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, knew the late Dr. Richard Strauss was abusing students, despite his claims to contrary. Three former students told NBC News the abuse was common knowledge. One student said he told Jordan of the abuse himself.

Ohio State University is investigating allegations Strauss abused wrestling team members for nearly two decades—including claims he showered regularly with team members and inappropriately touched them during appointments, according to NBC News.

Asked about the charges in May, Jordan told the Columbus Dispatch he “had not heard about any type of abuse at all.”

“No one reported any type of abuse” to him, Jordan claimed.

Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler for the school, called Jordan a “liar.”

“I considered Jim Jordan a friend,” DiSabato said. “But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn’t know what was going on.”

DiSabato claims he tried to tell Jordan directly earlier this year before bringing the issue to the university. According to DiSabato, Jordan asked him to “please leave me out of it” and said he did not want to get involved.

Dunyasha Yetts, another former wrestler, likewise told NBC News he tried to talk to Jordan about Strauss.

“I remember I had a thumb injury and went into Strauss’ office and he started pulling down my wrestling shorts,” Yetts said, according to NBC News. “I’m like, what the f*ck are you doing? And I went out and told Russ and Jim what happened. I was not having it. They went in and talked to Strauss.”

“For God’s sake, Strauss’s locker was right next to Jordan’s and Jordan even said he’d kill him if he tried anything with him,” Yetts added.

Another former teammate who asked to remain anonymous said it was “a head-scratcher” that Jordan claimed he had no knowledge of Strauss’ abuse.

“I love Jimmy to death,” they said. “It was a head-scratcher to me why he would say he didn’t know anything. Doc used to take showers with the team even though he didn’t do any workouts, and everybody used to snicker about how you go into his office for a sore shoulder and he tells you to take your pants down.”

In a statement to NBC News, a spokesman for Jordan repeated his denial.

“Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State,” Ian Fury said.

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