Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a lot to answer for.
While the head of the Democratic National Committee, she disgraced the position by colluding against Bernie Sanders.
Now one of her top aides, already under investigation for congressional security breaches, was arrested in conjunction with fraud charges, and the questions are only beginning.
Imran Awan, Wasserman Schultz’s IT aide for over a decade, was arrested while trying to flee to Pakistan.
From TruthRevolt.org:
A longtime IT aide to former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was arrested at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport Monday night as he was “trying to leave the country.”
The Blaze reports that federal agents and the U.S. Capitol Police arrested Pakistani-born Imran Awan and charged him with “multiple counts of bank fraud” stemming from the investigation of an information technology procurement scandal in the U.S. House.
The Blaze has the background:
Awan has been the lead suspect in an ongoing criminal probe into security breaches within the House of Representatives that was launched on Feb. 2. He allegedly doubled charged the U.S. House for IT equipment and may have exposed sensitive House members’ information online. According to previous reports, Wasserman Schultz kept Awan on her payroll, even though he had been banned from House servers by Capitol Hill security.
[…]
Awan, who was hired in 2005, was reportedly in possession of an iPad used by then-DNC Chair Wasserman Schultz, a Florida representative, around the time that DNC emails were leaked to WikiLeaks.
Awan, three members of his family, and close friend Rao Abbas were House IT workers and are accused of stealing equipment from Democratic members’ offices without their knowledge and committing potentially illegal violations on the House IT network, including leaking sensitive information stored within the servers and personal devices of House members.
The Awan family — as well as friends — were alleged to have owed money to the terrorist group Hezbollah.
[…]
The Awans worked in 32 House member offices, all Democrats, including the office of Wasserman Schultz and members of the Homeland Security Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Intelligence Committee. The tech team also worked in the office of the House Democratic Caucus.
Despite the email hacks that uncovered top Democrats’ misconduct and an ongoing, months-long federal probe that barred Awan from accessing congressional servers, Wasserman Schultz curiously kept him on the payroll until after his arrest.
Perhaps Wasserman Schultz is incredibly forgiving and truly values Awan’s counsel, or perhaps he had her over a barrel. Evidence suggests the latter is more likely.
The article continues:
House authorities began investigating the Awan family during their search for a secret server that was funneling congressional data off-site. Capitol Police ordered Awan to stay away from House servers during the investigation, but Schultz kept him on in an “advisory position,” allowing him to work remotely.
After an investigation was launched, Awan moved suddenly from his Virginia rental home, and the new tenant, a Marine Corps vet, reported that “wireless routers, hard drives that look like they tried to destroy [sic], laptops, [and] a lot of brand new expensive toner” were left behind in the garage after Awan’s departure. “They left in a huge hurry. It looks like government-issued equipment. We turned that stuff over.”
The FBI were reportedly seized hard drives from Awan’s home last Sunday. The Daily Caller reported that an anonymous source in Congress confirmed that the FBI has joined a criminal probe into “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network” by Imran and three of his relatives, “who had access to the emails and files of the more than two dozen House Democrats who employed them on a part-time basis.”
“The Awans had [members] in their pocket,” one IT staffer told The DC. “There are a lot of members who could go down over this.”
It’s no surprise that just last week Wasserman Schultz began “negotiating” with Capitol Police in possession of her computer; she’s trying to get ahead of what could be a massive scandal.
If the allegations against Awan and his family are true, he certainly doesn’t seem like the type to carry the water for culpable Democrats, which means he’s likely to cut a deal with investigators.
The stories he can tell should have House Democrats quaking in fear.