Debbie Wasserman Schultz has seemingly done everything in her power to stop this and has, in a sense, put national security at risk. Her IT guy, attempting to flee the country, has even committed bank fraud and even went as far as to destroy the hard drives the FBI were attempting to obtain.
Further, it’s been alleged that Awan, the IT guy, has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from House offices and may have funneled some very sensitive data offsite to a yet unknown source. This is a major cyber security breech. But Awan also had money troubles, contributing to concerns about the contractors’ access to sensitive emails and how that could be used. Awan declared bankruptcy in 2012 with more than $1.1 million in debt.
What’s next in this tangled web?
As reported by Forbes:
In a plot Tom Clancy might have dreamed up, an IT staffer who’d worked for Democrats in Congress was arrested by federal officials and charged with bank fraud. Fox News has reported that officers and agents from the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI and Customs and Border Protection, were involved in the arrest of Imran Awan at Dulles International Airport not far from Washington, D.C., as he tried to fly away to Pakistan.
Awan has pleaded not guilty to bank fraud, but his strange case has all the feeling of the opening scene of a movie that might soon include political corruption and so much more.
Democrats are being understandably quiet about the hill staffer who had been employed by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as of Tuesday morning, but has now reportedly been fired. Politico has reported that Awan is “at the center of a criminal investigation potentially impacting dozens of lawmakers.” Awan was arrested after wiring $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union to Pakistan, says The Daily Caller.