Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:31 pm
Yesterday we reported that “the political crisis facing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) deepened as a seventh former Ohio State University (OSU) wrestler came forward” to accuse him of lying.
We also said that:
“Jordan of course is continuing to deny everything and says that everyone is lying about him and that there is a deep state conspiracy against him led by Rod Rosenstein and Hillary Clinton.”
And now, as the founding member of the right-wing Freedom Caucus returns to Washington after the holiday break, he will be facing even more intense scrutiny and will come under even greater pressure to effectively resolve the crisis which is threatening his political career.
Talking about last week when the crisis first erupted, Jordan said:
“It’s been the toughest week. I mean, it’s just been tough for our fans . . . there’s a lot of things that people have to go through, tough things, but it’s just been an emotional week.”
And even though Jordan has consistently said that he had no knowledge of any misconduct or abuse, his denials have not moved the spotlight from him to his accusers or to anyone else.
According to the Washington Post:
“Jordan’s week will begin as two ethics experts ask an independent congressional watchdog to look at Jordan’s case. Norm Eisen, President Barack Obama’s ethics czar, and Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, will argue in a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics on Monday that it should conduct a preliminary inquiry into whether Jordan’s denials are false. OCE findings are sometimes referred to the House Ethics Committee.”
In his statement to the Post, Wertheimer said: “If Rep. Jordan is lying, he failed to protect student wrestlers under his supervision. This is a very serious matter that goes to the institutional integrity of the House and its Members.”
And Eisen added: “The evidence that Rep. Jordan is lying continues to mount. If this were a ‘he said, he said,’ matter that would be one thing. But with seven witnesses already stepping forward and perhaps more in the wings, an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation is needed.”
Also this week we can expect to see Jordan’s Republican colleagues in Congress asked to weigh in on the scandal. They will be asked if they believe Jordan, and if they think Jordan should resign. With less than four months to go until the midterm elections, this is the last thing that Republicans want to deal with right now.
Few conservatives so far have defended Jordan with the exception being Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina. “I have always known Jim Jordan to be a man of the utmost character, honor and integrity,” Meadows said on Friday night. “I’m proud to stand by Jim Jordan and support him 100 percent and call on all of my colleagues to do the same.”
Democrats have not been so kind, and no doubt they are like sharks smelling blood on the water. For example, Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.), who is running for New York attorney general, said:
“This is the same Jim Jordan who as a Congressman has self-righteously demanded investigations of anything and everything under the sun. Well, times’s up, Jim. We need to hear these victims and investigate Jim Jordan now.”
For Jim Jordan, the future is now. He can no longer put off facing the music, which should include facing his accusers and explaining why he has maintained silence through the years about a sex scandal where the victims were hundreds of young male athletes.
How he deals with the crisis this week may decide not only his own political fate, but also the fate of the Republican majority in Congress.
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