Ex-wrestler: Jim Jordan sneer when accuse of knowing about Strauss sexual abuse

A former Ohio State University wrestler on Tuesday claimed he told US Rep. Jim Jordan that the team doctor had touched him inappropriately and the former assistant coach Jim Jordan “just snickered.”

An athlete who claim anonymity,said is one of several ex-wrestlers from the program to accuse the Republican lawmaker and former assistant wrestling coach of knowing that Dr. Richard Strauss was sexually abusing boys on the team two decades ago — and failing to stop it.

“I remember coming up [to Jordan] and saying ‘Strauss held my balls longer than normal’ … he just snickered,” the man said in an interview with the network.

The former wrestler, who said he has no personal grudges against Jordan — and even supported him when he first ran for office — remembers going up to Jordan and saying, “something to the effect of ‘his hands are cold as s–t, he checked out every hair on my ball,” about Strauss.

Jordan replied: “I have nothing to do with this” and walked away, the former wrestler said.

The congressman has repeatedly denied any knowledge of inappropriate behavior while he was an assistant coach at OSU between 1987 and 1995.

But the former wrestler called Jordan “phony” for claiming he didn’t know.

“He’s sitting there and directly lying,” he said. “Jordan is denying this because obviously, it would be political suicide for him.”

“Jim Jordan knew. He didn’t do anything about it,” the former wrestler added.

He also reiterated claims that everyone on the wrestling team knew and talked openly about Strauss’s inappropriate behavior.

“To be honest with you, we were the toughest guys at Ohio State, so you didn’t want to believe that something sexual in nature was happening, but you kind of knew,” he said.

The Office of Congressional Ethics on Monday launched a preliminary investigation into Jordan’s denials that he knew about abuse.

A group of former OSU coaches released a statement the same day supporting Jordan, who is a two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion.

“What has been said about Jim Jordan is absolutely wrong,” it stated. “We all worked on the wrestling coaching staff during Jim’s tenure at The Ohio State University. None of us saw or heard of abuse of OSU wrestlers. The well-being of student-athletes was all of our concern. If we had heard of any abuse, we would have spoken up.”

President Trump has spoken out in support of Jordan, saying he doesn’t believe the athletes who allege their former assistant coach knew they were being abused.

“I don’t believe them at all. I believe him,” he said.

Male athletes from 14 sports at Ohio State have reported alleged sexual misconduct by Strauss, who killed himself in 2005.