Jim Jordan’s sexual abuse scandal gets even uglier for him
Republican Congressman Jim Jordan’s sexual abuse scandal, which dates back to his days as a coach at Ohio State University but only became a headline story earlier today, has now managed to get even worse for him. Jordan stands accused of having been aware that a team doctor was sexually abusing his players, and of having tried to keep a lid on it instead of putting a stop to it. Now, if Ohio State officials are to be believed, Jordan is in even more trouble than we thought.
Congressman Jordan asserted earlier today that he didn’t know his players were being abused at the time. This was first contradicted by major media reports that multiple former members of the team claimed they did tell Jordan about it. Now, according to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, attorneys representing Ohio State University now say that they contacted Jordan via phone and email while the scandal was being investigated internally, asking him to come in for an interview. It’s the “email” part that’s about to turn very ugly for him.
Ohio State simply has to produce the records of the emails it sent to Jim Jordan, and unless he can somehow make a convincing argument that he didn’t bother to read emails that he received from his employer’s legal department, it’ll prove that he did in fact know about the scandal at the time. It’s not immediately clear what kind of criminal liability Jordan would face if it can be proven that he knew the abuse was going on and did nothing to intervene. But we do know that these Ohio State University emails will go a long way toward proving him guilty in the court of public opinion, which is what will ultimately decide whether he’s forced to resign from Congress.
Jim Jordan has a number of far-right friends in the House of Representatives. However, if this sex abuse scandal turns ugly enough, even Jordan’s GOP House allies may conclude that they need to force him to resign, in order to prevent his scandal from costing the party across the board in November. As it stands, Jordan’s scandal is getting uglier by the hour.
