Allegations against Jim Jordan strike at the wrestling persona he has carefully cultivated
By Paul Kane
July 12 at 7:01 PM
Wrestling wasn’t just a youth sport for Rep. Jim Jordan. It’s central to the Ohio Republican’s identity.
When Jordan floated himself as a candidate for House speaker, his allies cited his history on the wrestling mat as a reason for how tough and serious he would take the race. “If Congressman Jordan decides to run, just like he did when he was a two-time national champion wrestler, I don’t think he’s going to run for last,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a close ally, said the day after Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) announced plans to retire.
A visit to Jordan’s campaign website finds this opening statement: “Jim Jordan’s background as a four-time state champion and two-time NCAA champion in the sport of wrestling helped prepare him to take on some of the toughest political opponents in Washington.”
And then the site directs visitors to videos of Jordan facing off against an opponent, either a witness or a TV news interviewer. “Why are you keeping information from Congress?” Jordan shouts at Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein in the first video, starting a seven-minute cross-examination.
Now Jordan is the one under withering scrutiny as he faces multiple accusations that he knew or should have know about the alleged sexual misconduct of a doctor who worked with the Ohio State wrestling team when Jordan was an assistant coach there between 1986 and 1995.
He has reacted to the charges with the same combative persona he has cultivated for years — denying he knew anything and aggressively counterattacking by raising questions about the motives of the former wrestlers who have come forward to describe the abuse.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/allegations-against-jim-jordan-strike-at-the-wrestling-persona-he-has-carefully-cultivated/2018/07/12/b6355d7a-85e5-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html
