Jim Jordan and Richard Strauss: 5 Quick Facts You Need to Know

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Jim Jordan, the US Representative of the 4th Congressional District of Ohio, was accused of knowingly failing to stop the badual abuse committed by Dr. Richard Strauss while that he was wrestling coach at Ohio State University

. entered politics, Jordan, a Republican, was badistant coach at the USO from 1986 to 1994; Strauss, who died in 2005, was an Ohio State physician and a team doctor from 1978 to the late 1990s. Three former wrestlers are made public with the allegations in April, which triggered an official investigation of the university. Jordan has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the abuse.

Here is what you need to know:

1. Former student athletes claim that Jordan knew what was going on and did not stop him

Getty Jim Jordan, Congress District Representative of Ohio

Speaking with The Dispuss Dispatch Mike DiSabato, one of the three former OSU wrestlers accused Strauss of badual abuse, said, "He knew, knew, and he is very disappointed that he has now denied knowledge, not once, but twice. I never knew Jim Jordan was a coward, but it shows that his interest in finding a bigger job is more important than the health, safety and well-being of his friends and athletes who competed for he and him. 19659003] DiSabato, along with two other former wrestlers, claimed that it was "notorious" that Strauss improperly touched the students and regularly watered them, according to NBC News.

One of the other wrestlers, Dunyasha Yetts, told NBC the wrestlers reported the abuse to Jordan on numerous occasions. "I remember a thumb injury and I went to Strauss's office and he started to lower my fighting shorts." He told Jordan after the incident, and Jordan, with Russ Hellickson, former coach of the OSU.

According to Yetts, Jordan's locker was next to Strauss's, and Jordan told him "that he would kill him if he tried anything with him."

Before DiSabato makes the allegations public, he claims to have spoken with Jordan. The congressman told DiSabato of "please let me out of it."

One of DiSabato's former teammates said that he had not directly reported the abuse to Jordan, although everyone knew he needed to know about it.

2. Jordan denied having knowledge of the alleged abuse

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A month after the state of Ohio opened its investigation, Jordan told The Columbus Dispatch that he was not aware of the aggression

. not heard of any type of abuse, "said Jordan.He added that" no one had reported any type of abuse to him "while he was the badistant of the & # 39; Wrestling Coach

Now, two months later, Jordan repeated his refusal by his spokesman Ian Fury.In an email to NBC News, Fury writes, "MP Jordan has never seen abuse, never heard of abuse and was never abused while he was coaching at Ohio State.

3. Jordan served as badistant wrestling coach From 1986 to 1994 while Strauss practiced at the university

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Jordan joined the staff of the Ohio State Wrestling after a high school decorated and a college wrestling career state championships and two NCAA Division I titles while studying economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 9659003] His coaching time at OSU has overlapped the time of Strauss practicing at the university in its entirety.

Jordan immediately enters politics after leaving his post at the university

Getty Jordan with the leader of the senatorial majority Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump

Jordan begins his political career at the Ohio General Assembly. seat in the elections of November 1994. He served in the state legislature until 2000, pbading in the Ohio Senate, a seat he will hold for six years before winning the race for the 4th Congressional District of Ohio in 2006. Jordan has been reelected for five times, and is in l His opponent in the next election, Democratic candidate Janet Garrett, issued a statement on the allegations against Jordan:

Any allegation of badual abuse against minors – or complicity in such abuse – is very serious. This damage can not be undone. For any teacher, protecting children is the top priority – and I say it as a former kindergarten teacher. Ohio State has the obligation to get to the bottom of things with thorough and fair investigation. Jim Jordan has the obligation to cooperate fully with this investigation.

According to the tracker of FiveThirtyEight, Jordan voted in agreement with President Trump's positions in 84.3% of cases. Jordan has repeatedly supported Trump in public comment and interviews.

5. Strauss has worked in many universities, including Harvard and Ohio State officials may have been informed of alleged abuses in the 1990s

According to the Associated Press, Strauss worked in five universities before the Ohio State did not hire her in 1978, after spending time as an underwater medical instructor in the Navy. In the space of a decade, Mr. Strauss was working at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, at the University. from Hawaii and at Rutgers University. At this time, no complaints of abuse were made against Strauss by former students of a university other than the Ohio State

Strauss also worked with the International Olympic Committee from the late 1980s to the 1990s. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Ohio State's investigation has expanded to include 13 other male athletic programs at the university, including: football, gymnastics, ice hockey, swimming, volleyball, cheerleading, fencing, and gymnastics.

Strauss left the university in the late 1990s, but according to The Lantern, the Ohio State student newspaper, university officials may have been aware of these abuse. Before Strauss left in unclear conditions, an unidentified athlete from the Ohio State said his coach had asked him to testify against Strauss during a hearing. The student said he was badually badaulted by Strauss twice. The former student did not testify, but he told The Lantern that he knew three people who were present for an audience.

"I thought he was fired," he says. "Almost all student-athletes knew this guy was a creep."

Strauss died in 2005 at the age of 67.