GOP Rep. Jim Jordan Implicated in College Sex-Abuse Scandal

Today's Republican Party is chock full of right wing nut cases and hypocrites of the highest order.  Among the more unhinged, in my view, is GOP Rep. Jim Jordan from Ohio who last eek  hysterically attack Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, accusing him without proof of threatening staffers. A column in the Washington Post described the reality free Jordan as follows: 

The sight of a calm, methodical deputy attorney general, patiently answering an unhinged inquisitor’s accusations (followed by interruptions so Rosenstein couldn’t answer), was bracing. Jordan is the perfect incarnation of the GOP in 2018 — unhinged, bullying, unbound by facts and unconcerned with the norms of democratic government. . . . Democratic House candidates might consider running the Jordan video in their ads.

On his congressional web page, Jordan boasts that  "I am committed to defending the sanctity of marriage and the family. . . . I oppose all attempts to redefine marriage, and I support the right of parents to supervise what their children learn and how they are educated."  Now, it would seem that Jordan in fact cares little about students as he tries to distance himself from a sex abuse scandal that witnesses are saying Jordan had to know about.  One, even has stated that he personally told Jordan of the abuse.  A piece in New York Magazine looks at Jordan's alleged role in the abuse scandal and his Sargent Schultz like attempts at denials and disclaimers.  Here are article highlights:

The horrific scandal involving Larry Nassar, the Michigan State University and U.S. Gymnastics team physician who was convicted of criminal sexual assault against athletes under his care, and was credibly accused of literally hundreds of acts of abuse, has made the risks of sexual misconduct by medical personnel at colleges a huge topic, especially in the Midwest. Those who knew or had reason to know of his misdeeds over the years have been held accountable . . . .

That makes the new allegations being made that prominent conservative U.S. representative Jim Jordan turned a blind eye to sexual abuse of athletes by a team doctor during his long tenure as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University especially explosive right now. 

NBC has the story: Rep. Jim Jordan, the powerful Republican congressman from Ohio, is being accused by former wrestlers he coached more than two decades ago at Ohio State University of failing to stop the team doctor from molesting them and other students.

Jordan, who was on the wrestling staff at OSU from 1986 to 1994, before his political career began, is denying that he knew anything about Strauss molesting his athletes.

His denials, however, have been met with skepticism and anger from some former members of the wrestling team.  Three former wrestlers told NBC News that it was common knowledge that Strauss showered regularly with the students and inappropriately touched them during appointments, and said it would have been impossible for Jordan to be unaware; one wrestler said he told Jordan directly about the abuse.

The ex-athletes . . . who spoke to NBC were unanimous in saying that he’s covering up what he knew . . . .

At least one of Strauss’s accusers claims that his misconduct went far beyond the wrestling team, as the Washington Post reports:  [Mike] DiSabato said he was first abused by Strauss at 14 as a high school wrestler. He said he believes Strauss abused 1,000-2,000 young athletes.

Jordan is a pretty big deal in the House these days, as a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a possible candidate for the speakership when Paul Ryan steps down at the end of this year. These accusations are the last thing he needs right now. And his prominence in conservative politics is already generating ferocious counterattacks from the, er, less inhibited precincts of the right-wing media . . . It takes some kind of self-confidence to hear of serious allegations of criminal misconduct that only indirectly involves one of your “team’s” politicians and immediately know for a fact that it’s a “deep state” conspiracy.

My personal thoughts?  Jordan is likely guilty of lying.  "Family values" only matter on the campaign trail when whipping Christofascists into a frenzy. 

Just shy of three years ago I note as follows: "As noted often on this blog, why is it that it seems like 9 times out of 10 that it is the far right conservatives and the pastors and priests from anti-gay religious denominations who are the ones always getting arrested on sex crimes charges?  Oh, and lets not forget the "conservative" Republican officials who vote against gays even as they troll for gay sex on the sly."  The observation was prompted by the arrest of Christopher Allen  Simcox (pictured above), co- founder of the rabidly anti-immigrant Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, for child sex abuse.  Now, Simcox has been convicted and will face sentencing on July 5, 2016.   Once again we see the right wingers engaging in the behavior that they use to demonize others.  The hypocrisy, while shocking, is truly becoming the norm with such people.  Here are highlights from The Daily Mail:

An Arizona jury convicted the founder of the Minuteman border-watch group of molesting a five-year-old girl.

Christopher Allen Simcox, 55, was found guilty on charges that he molested the girl and showed her pornography on Wednesday.

But he escaped a mandatory life sentence after the jury acquitted him on of engaging in sexual conduct with a six-year-old girl.

A molestation conviction carries a sentence of 10 to 24 years in prison.

Simcox, who was convicted on two molestation counts, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 5.

An attorney who assisted him at trial said Simcox will still likely spend the rest of his life in prison, given Arizona's tough sentencing guidelines.

In closing arguments, a prosecutor scoffed at Simcox's claim that the girls were pressured by adults to bring the allegations.

His case was also noteworthy for Simcox's insistence that he should be allowed to personally question the girls on the witness stand.

Prosecutors argued that letting Simcox question the girls would cause them emotional distress. In the end, Simcox got an attorney to pose the questions.

Kerrie Droban, the lawyer who served as Simcox's adviser, said she was unsure whether Simcox would appeal the verdict.

‘The jury listened attentively,’ Droban said. ‘They gave him a fair trial.’

Simcox's arrest in 2013 came after his career as an advocate for tougher immigration policies had fizzled.

The Minuteman movement stepped into the spotlight in 2005 when illegal immigration heated up as a national political issue.  Minuteman volunteers fanned out along the nation's southern border to watch for illegal crossings and report them to federal agents.

It's not the transgender or immigrants that one needs to fear, rather it is the "godly folk" who obsess over the sex lives of others and the rabid racists that one really needs to fear.  Time and time again they are the ones that prove to be the predators.