FREMONT, Ohio (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan said on Wednesday he never knew of sexual abuse by a now-dead doctor who examined wrestlers Jordan helped coach decades ago at Ohio State University.
FILE –This Oct. 22, 2015 file photo shows U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Capitol Hill. Two men who were wrestlers at Ohio State University in the 1990s say Jordan isn’t being truthful when he says he wasn’t aware of allegations team doctor Richard Strauss was groping male wrestlers, NBC reported Tuesday, July 3, 2018. Male athletes from 14 sports at Ohio State have reported alleged sexual misconduct by Strauss, whose 2005 death at the age of 67 was ruled a suicide. Jordan’s spokesman says in a statement the congressman never saw or heard about any abuse or had any abuse reported when he was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Jordan, speaking to reporters at a July Fourth rally in Fremont, repeatedly denied claims by ex-wrestlers Mike DiSabato and Dunyasha Yetts, who say the powerful Republican congressman from Ohio knew back then that Richard Strauss was groping male athletes.
Former Ohio State wrestler Mike DiSabato discusses abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a late Ohio State team doctor in the 1990s, on Monday, July 2, 2018, in Dublin, Ohio. DiSabato and another former wrestler also say U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a former Ohio State wrestling coach, isn’t being truthful when he says he wasn’t aware at the time of abuse allegations against Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)
Jordan acknowledged that Strauss was among faculty members and other employees who used the same open shower area as athletes in the building where they practiced, but he said he and other coaches with whom he has spoken weren’t aware of any abuse by Strauss.
This file photo shows a 1978 employment application information for Dr. Richard Strauss, from Ohio State University personnel files reviewed by The Associated Press. Strauss, who died in 2005, has been accused of sexual misconduct by former college student athletes. Ohio State says the firm conducting an independent investigation also is reviewing whether Strauss examined high school students. (Ohio State University via AP, File)
“We knew of no abuse. Never heard of abuse,” Jordan said. “If we had, we’d have reported it.”
Male Ohio State athletes from 14 sports have alleged sexual misconduct by Strauss, who was on the faculty and medical staff and published a variety of research.
Strauss died in 2005, and his death was ruled a suicide. Surviving relatives haven’t responded to messages left by The Associated Press seeking comment about allegations against him.
The university has urged anyone with relevant information to contact the law firm Perkins Coie, which is conducting an independent investigation. More than 150 former students and witnesses have been interviewed.
Another law firm representing the university in the matter has said investigators tried unsuccessfully to contact Jordan’s office by phone and email to seek an interview with him. The congressman said his office has no record of such outreach and he is willing to talk with investigators but had nothing scheduled as of Wednesday.
He called the timing of the wrestlers’ allegations about him “interesting.”
“If there is any type of abuse of these folks, we want them to get justice, but it’s interesting that the timing is what it is in light of things that are going on in Washington,” Jordan said.
Jordan, a founder of the conservative Freedom Caucus, is a potential contender for U.S. House speaker. He has taken leading roles in fighting the Affordable Care Act and in pushing back against the government’s Russia investigation, most recently interrogating Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in committee.
A spokesman for Speaker Paul Ryan said the university has rightfully initiated an investigation and the speaker will await its findings.
Jordan on Wednesday also expressed concern about being among recipients of an email from DiSabato and said his office planned to touch base with Capitol police about it, but he didn’t elaborate.
Earlier report:
Ex-wrestlers say congressman knew of alleged Ohio St abuse
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio congressman isn’t being truthful when asserting he was unaware of allegations that a now-dead team doctor was abusing athletes, according to two former university wrestlers.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a former standout college wrestler at the University of Wisconsin and later a coach at Ohio State, knew when he was at the university that the doctor was groping male wrestlers, said ex-wrestlers Mike DiSabato and Dunyasha Yetts.
The wrestlers’ allegations were first reported Tuesday by NBC. Jordan, a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion, denies them.
Jordan, a founder of the conservative Freedom Caucus, is one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress and a potential contender for speaker. He’s taken leading roles in fighting the Affordable Care Act and in pushing back against the government’s Russia investigation, most recently interrogating Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in committee.
Male athletes from 14 sports at Ohio State have reported alleged sexual misconduct by Richard Strauss, who was on the faculty and medical staff and published a variety of research. Strauss died in 2005, and it was ruled a suicide.
Ohio State has not released details about the claims but said more than 150 former students and witnesses have been interviewed so far. The school has urged anyone with information about Strauss to contact the independent investigators from Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie.
Perkins Coie also is reviewing whether Strauss examined high school students.
Yetts, 47, of Steubenville, said Strauss groped him at least three times during routine exams when he wrestled in the early to mid-1990s. Jordan was Yetts’ weight-class coach at the time, and the two spoke frequently about Strauss, he said. Jordan was among the people Yetts told about groping the first time in happened in 1992, Yetts told The Associated Press Tuesday.
“He’d even make comments, ‘This guy better not touch me,'” Yetts said.
Beginning in 2007, Yetts served 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal mail fraud charges. Yetts was accused of bilking investors out of $1.8 million as part of an investment scheme he ran from 1998 to 2001.
Yetts, an operations manager for a gas drilling company, said Tuesday he has paid his debt for past mistakes. He said the fraud case has nothing to do with what he went through as a student-athlete.
DiSabato, of Dublin in suburban Columbus, also told the AP that Jordan had direct knowledge of the Strauss allegations. DiSabato, 50, said he was moved to tell Ohio State of Strauss’ actions after hearing accounts last year of gymnasts sexually abused by sports doctor Larry Nassar. DiSabato says he’s angered that Jordan hasn’t acknowledged the abuse.
Jordan’s spokesman said in a statement that the congressman never saw or heard about any abuse or had any abuse reported to him during his time at Ohio State.
“He has not been contacted by investigators about the matter but will assist them in any way they ask, because if what is alleged is true, the victims deserve a full investigation and justice,” said spokesman Ian Fury.
Late Tuesday, a law firm representing Ohio State contradicted that statement. An investigative legal team looking into the allegations against Strauss previously contacted Jordan’s office by phone and email requesting he participate in an interview, but Jordan did not respond, said Kathleen Trafford of Porter Wright in Columbus.
“The investigative team is continuing its efforts to schedule an interview with Rep. Jordan, as well as other individuals with potential knowledge relating to the allegations,” Trafford said.
Fury said the office can’t find a record of those requests but remains willing to assist investigators.
The U.S. House speaker’s office on Tuesday called the allegations against Jordan “serious.”
Doug Andres, a spokesman for GOP Speaker Paul Ryan, said the university has “rightfully initiated a full investigation into the matter” and the speaker will “await the findings of that inquiry.”
Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty to molesting women and girls under the guise of treatment and was caught with child pornography. He is serving three prison sentences that likely will keep him locked up for life.
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Associated Press Writers John Seewer in Toledo, Kantele Franko and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus and Congressional Reporter Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.