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WASHINGTON – Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a powerful uncompromising conservative who has been involved in a sexual abuse scandal since he was a collegiate wrestling coach, announced on Thursday that & # 39; 39, he would run for the estate of Paul D. Ryan. speaker.
Jordan's candidacy is certain to jeopardize the already fragile succession of powers that Mr. Ryan set in motion when he announced that he would retire at the end of the year. year. Publicly, Republican leaders supported Majority Leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy of California. In private, some Republicans have said that McCarthy would not be able to unite the rebel party, and Republican number 3 in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, is waiting behind the scenes.
Now comes the divisive figure of Mr. Jordan, who has the support of the small but important House Freedom Caucus, which he founded, and conservative groups who pushed him to show up. He has divided Republicans several times with his aggressive tactics, most recently this week by filing indictments against Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein.
Ryan responded on Thursday saying that he would not support the action, and the House left for his August break without taking it.
"I do not think we should be riders with this process or with this term," he told reporters. "I do not think it goes up to the level of crime and high crime."
But in a sense, the political damage to the Republicans was done. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, leader of the Democratic Party, said that the Conservatives had attempted to attack Mr. Rosenstein simply to distract the attention of former university wrestlers who accused Mr. Jordan of know about sexual misconduct at Ohio State University and do nothing.
Asked about the motivation for the impeachment effort, Ms. Pelosi said, "Well, I do not know, but what I've heard is that Jim Jordan wants just distract attention from the scrutiny it's undergoing in Ohio – that might be part of it. "
Jordan will probably not be gathering the majority of the House's Republican Conference. And Republicans may well not control the house next year. Democrats must get 23 seats to control the chamber, and more than 30 seats held by Republicans are already either leaning toward Democrats or are tossups, according to non-partisan political analysts.
But a race for the presidency could make Mr. Jordan Kingmaker who could use his coalition of hard-liners to set the terms for the next list of Republican leadership.
His decision to publicly declare his candidacy was a show of shameless self-confidence, all the more so as clouds congregate on Ohio State, where he was the assistant coach of the United States. Fight team at a time when the team doctor, Richard H. Strauss, had committed sexual misconduct, according to dozens of former athletes and students.
Several wrestlers competing for him in the late 1980s The 1990s revealed that Jordan had turned a blind eye.
Jordan vehemently denied that he was aware of the abuses and launched an aggressive counter-attack. A platoon of former wrestlers, coaches and Republicans from President Trump to Mr. Ryan, remained at his side.
In announcing his candidacy to Conservative colleagues, Mr. Jordan offered a clear message: Congressional Republicans must do better to support Mr. "I believe we have given the American people a reason to question our commitment to reform, "wrote Mr. Jordan in a letter to his Republican colleagues to inform him of his candidacy
. "If the American people again entrusted us with the majority at the 116th Congress, our clear mandate will be to continue working with President Trump to keep the promises we have made," said Jordan.
. Jordan's call with the Conservatives remained remarkably strong, regardless of the Ohio State investigation. Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania and a member of the Freedom Caucus, brushed a question about how the Ohio State Affair would affect Mr. Jordan, calling him "a big guy." ".
"There is no one here bigger," said Mr. Perry
Conservative groups have not retreated. The American Family Association, the Tea Party Patriots, the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks have all been eager to escape. FreedomWorks, who helped fund the Tea Party movement, is committed to spending at least $ 500,000 to support his candidacy.
In a statement sent to reporters, Mark Meadows MP from North Carolina, current president of the Freedom Caucus, was founder.
"I can honestly say that Jim is one of the most honorable, thoughtful and respectful of the principles I've encountered in Washington," said Mr. Meadows. "Jim is a fighter, a leader and a true conservative in every respect."
Meadows and Mr. Jordan, along with nine other conservative lawmakers, have launched a long-term offer to attack Mr. Rosenstein after complaining bitterly that he had hidden information in Congress in the US. 39, investigation of Russia. Mr. Jordan emerged as a fighting sheet for the Justice Department and the FBI, and became known for castigating officials of both agencies in public hearings while deploring the deep state, an alleged cabal of Liberal bureaucrats conspiring to bring down the president
A number of prominent Conservatives have said they would not support the efforts to remove Mr. Rosenstein, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Mr. Ryan, and Thursday. the dismissal efforts seemed already to have cooled down.
million. Meadows told reporters that he was now hoping that the process of contempt of Congress against Mr. Rosenstein could take on magnitude.
Thomas Kaplan and Sheryl Gay Stolberg contributed to the report.
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