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House Speaker Paul Ryan defends Ohio's Jim Jordan as 'man of integrity'

Speaker Ryan is also suggesting the House Ethics Committee doesn't need to examine the allegations against Republican Rep. Jim Jordan.

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending an Ohio congressman accused of ignoring college wrestlers' allegations of abuse, calling him "a man of honesty, a man of integrity."

Ryan is also suggesting the House Ethics Committee doesn't need to examine the allegations against Republican Rep. Jim Jordan. He says that panel isn't supposed to investigate incidents from "a couple of decades ago when they weren't in Congress."

Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987 to 1995. Some former wrestlers have said Jordan knew about allegations that they were inappropriately groped by doctor Richard Strauss.

Jordan has denied that. He is a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Ryan said he backs Ohio State's investigation of the allegations. He did not explicitly state whether he believes Jordan's denial.

Meanwhile, two former top administrators say they weren't aware of allegations of sexual by Strauss.

Former Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee and former vice president of human resources Linda Tom tell The Columbus Dispatch they don't remember receiving any complaints about the now-dead doctor.

He worked there for two decades as a member of the faculty and medical staff and a team doctor before retiring in 1998. Ohio State says allegations of sexual misconduct by Strauss have been raised by former athletes from 14 sports and other people since such allegations were first brought forward months ago.

An independent investigation is underway about those claims and about whether the university knew of concerns about Strauss.

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