GOP's Jim Jordan could face a subpoena as part of Ohio State sexual abuse probe

Long before Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was a far-right Republican congressman, he was an assistant wrestling coach. And Tavia Galonski, a Democrat who serves in Ohio’s state government, is recommending that Jordan be subpoenaed as part of a sexual abuse probe of someone Jordan once worked with.

The late Dr. Richard Strauss has been accused of sexually abusing members of the wrestling team at Ohio State University — where he was a physician for that team, and where Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach from 1986-1994. Strauss committed suicide in 2005, and men who were on the team have come forward with allegations that he sexually abused them.

Galonski, who serves in the Ohio House of Representatives, wants to subpoena Jordan in order to shed some light on the allegations against Strauss.

When Galonski was asked what she would ask Jordan were he subpoenaed, she responded, “What did you know, and when did you know it? 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.”

The 55-year old Jordan entered politics in the 1990s, serving in Ohio’s state government (first the Ohio House of Representatives, then the Ohio Senate) before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 2006.

Galonski, who is part of a committee in the Ohio House of Representatives, first made a motion to subpoena Jordan on Tuesday. But Ohio Rep. Stephen Hambley, the Republican who chairs that committee, rejected her motion. Regardless, Galonski (who has a legal background) said she plans to request a subpoena of Jordan again when the committee meets next week.

“Obviously, a subpoena is like salt: you use it sparingly,” NBC News quotes Galonski as saying. “But I don’t believe Congressman Jordan would come forward on his own.”